


a stormy sea of love and emotion

by woodchoc_magnum



Series: you can tell everybody this is your song [20]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Bottom Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Christopher Diaz is a National Treasure, Domestic Fluff, Domestic Violence, Drama, Drowning, Family Drama, M/M, Married Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Protective Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Sex, Soft Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Soft Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, original cat character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:07:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 22,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29040612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/woodchoc_magnum/pseuds/woodchoc_magnum
Summary: In which Buck and Eddie celebrate Valentine's Day, Sophia makes her big escape and there are problems brewing on the work front.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: you can tell everybody this is your song [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1816843
Comments: 173
Kudos: 404





	1. Chapter 1

"Four hours," Eddie murmured in his ear, his hand sliding across Buck's lower back – no one could see them in the back, pressed up against each other, counting down the minutes until their shift ended.

Buck grinned, hooking his fingers into Eddie's belt. They had a group of cadets from the academy in for a tour of the station, and Bobby was giving a speech. Buck wondered if anyone would notice if they disappeared into the shower room together, but almost as soon as he had the thought, he glanced over and found Hen shaking her head at him pointedly.

"She's onto us," he said in a low voice, and Eddie grinned, glancing past Buck to Hen. The hand pressed against his back slipped lower, and Buck shifted to allow him more access, trying to keep a straight face.

Bobby was droning on about honour and integrity. Buck had heard the same speech before, multiple times, and tugged on Eddie's belt lightly, drawing him in closer.

Eddie shifted his weight, leaning against the truck. Buck glanced at him – his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat, and when he realised that Buck was watching him, he smirked and slid his hand down and over the curve of Buck's butt. Buck slipped his fingers beneath the waistband of Eddie's pants, pulling on his shirt until his fingers were sliding across smooth skin.

"We here at the 118 are a family," Bobby was saying, as the new recruits listened with interest. "We rely on each other day in and day out to do our jobs effectively, to support each other—"

"I'm bored," Eddie murmured.

"Mmm." Buck kept his face impassive.

"Let's go."

"Can't. Bobby wants me to talk about my experience here."

Eddie sighed, his lower lip sticking out in an exaggerated pout. "Okay."

Buck smiled at him. "Four hours."

"Four hours," Eddie repeated, as Bobby launched into a spiel about Buck's career at the 118. "I hope he doesn't mention the lawsuit."

"Why'd you have to say that, huh?" Buck teased, and pinched him lightly.

* * *

"Three hours," Buck said to Eddie as he passed by, trailing after Bobby and a group of new recruits.

Eddie grinned, collapsing on a bench in the gym. He checked his phone – Christopher was spending the night at Pepa's, and she'd sent through a photo of him and Max. Max was wearing a new outfit – a little multi-coloured poncho – and Eddie zoomed in, trying to figure out where it had come from.

Finally it hit him, and he texted his aunt in reply. _Did you knit that for him?_

Her reply was instant. _It was a failed baby blanket. I repurposed it for our beautiful boy._

Eddie chuckled, enlarging the picture again. How this one black and white fluffy cat had won over almost everyone – aside from Chimney – he'd never understand, but he was glad they'd found him.

He put his phone away and looked around the station again, wondering if he was being too aloof. Chimney was holding court near the ladder truck, and even Hen was talking with a group of female recruits. Buck and Bobby were up on the balcony together – he watched Buck for a little while, as his face lit up with a smile and he spoke with animated hand gestures. Nobody loved their job more than Buck did.

With everyone distracted, Eddie decided to duck out the side entrance to get some fresh air, and took a seat on his and Buck's favourite bench – tucked around the corner, the perfect hiding place from prying eyes. He'd only been sitting there for a few minutes when he heard a familiar voice.

"Yeah, it's a great station to work for," Cooper gushed. "Everyone here is great; they've made me feel totally at home since I started."

"How long ago was that?" the other person asked – Eddie guessed he was one of the cadets.

"I've been here four months," Cooper replied. "And yeah, coming through the academy was great, because I didn't feel like I was starting at square one, but there was still so much to learn. And there are some superstars here, you know?"

"Oh yeah, we've heard about Buck," the other guy replied.

"And Diaz as well," another voice added.

Eddie tilted his head to the side, listening, wondering how many times Cooper could work the word 'great' into a conversation.

"Yeah, they're both great. Buck's just fearless and nothing ever fazes Eddie; that's why they're such a great team. You know they're married, right?"

"No way," someone said. "That's allowed?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Cooper replied. "They had a big wedding last year before I started; Bobby was even Buck's best man."

"Oh wow, that's so cool."

"Yeah, it'd be nice to work somewhere so progressive; everyone seems really nice. Some of the other cadets have been total dicks."

"This is a great place to work," Cooper gushed. "Bobby's a great captain; it's really inclusive. And I mean, not everyone is super friendly right off the bat, but they're not mean – I guess that's just what happens when new people come in, you know?"

Eddie rolled his eyes. That was almost definitely directed at him.

"But you get along with everyone, right?" someone asked.

"Oh yeah, sure. I mean, I don't think Diaz likes me too much, but then… I'm not sure he really likes anyone, you know? He's kinda standoffish."

Well, that was definitely directed at him. Amused, he wondered if he should clear his throat and make himself known.

"Nah, he's super nice," one of the other people said dismissively. "He was talking to us earlier about his experience at the academy and what it was like coming from the army to the LAFD – he's great."

"Maybe to you," Cooper joked.

Eddie snorted under his breath. _What a dick._

"Hey, what are you guys doing out here?" he heard Buck say. "Bobby's about to give another speech; you better go catch it. Coop, have you seen my husband anywhere?"

"No, sorry, Buck," Cooper replied.

Eddie heard footsteps crunching on asphalt, and looked up as Buck rounded the corner. "There you are," he said, lighting up with pleasure. "What are you doing out here by yourself?"

"Just taking a breather," Eddie replied, shifting over so Buck could settle in beside him. "How long?"

Buck checked his watch. "Two hours and forty minutes," he replied, taking Eddie's hand. "Were you listening to those guys?"

"Yeah, Cooper was telling them how great this place is, and how we're married," he said, unable to keep the edge out of his voice.

Buck gave him a knowing look. "All good things, then?"

"From what I heard, yeah."

He leaned in close and whispered, "Then why don't you like him?"

Eddie let out a breathy laugh, lifting his shoulders. "I don't have a good reason."

"Chim and I have been working with him; making sure that he knows what he's doing on the ropes so he doesn't panic again," Buck pointed out. "He was hoping you might let him watch you if we have another rescue soon."

He grimaced, but sighed when Buck elbowed him. "Yeah, okay."

"You're not usually like this."

"I know, I'm sorry." Eddie looked away from him, but laughed when Buck nuzzled his cheek. "I'm sorry."

"What's wrong? Tell me," Buck murmured.

It was so _stupid_ , that was the problem. Ever since the day he'd seen Cooper checking Buck out, he hadn't been able to forget it – but it's not like the kid had made a move on his husband. Realistically, he was allowed to look – Buck was _gorgeous_. Everyone looked at him – how could they not? He was handsome, confident and so friendly with everyone.

And Eddie didn't want to say anything to Buck that might make him feel uncomfortable around Cooper, or like he was doing something wrong – which he wasn't. If everyone was looking at Buck, he never noticed it, because he was only looking at Eddie.

Eddie couldn't help but feel a little possessive of the beautiful man he'd married, even though he knew it was stupid. He rested his chin on Buck's shoulder, gazing up at him, and murmured, "Nothing's wrong."

"Okay." Buck clearly didn't believe him. "We'll talk about this later."

"No, we won't." Eddie leaned in a little closer, and Buck closed the gap and kissed him eagerly.

* * *

"An hour and a half," he said as they leapt out of the truck at the scene of the car accident.

Eddie flashed him a smile, grabbing the Jaws of Life from the truck. "Not soon enough."

Buck laughed, jogging over to the crumpled cars behind Chimney. A man and a woman were trapped in a black Mercedes SUV, which had slammed into the back of a silver Cadillac. A third car had then collided with both cars, and all three cars were tangled together and jammed up against a tree.

Buck climbed into the backseat of the black SUV, leaning through the front to check both victims. The woman was unconscious, blood dripping down her face and staining her grey hair. The airbag had deployed and if he had to guess, he'd say her nose had been broken by the impact.

The man was awake, but dazed, his head lolling from side to side. The front driver's side window had shattered, and Buck knocked the rest of the glass out so Chimney could reach into the vehicle.

"We're going to need the Jaws over here as well, Eddie," Buck heard him call.

Buck grabbed a C-collar from the kit and fastened it around the woman's neck, leaning over to check her vitals. "Pulse is strong, but she's out cold," he called to Chimney. "And her door is jammed up against the tree."

"Okay, Buck – Coop's here with the Jaws, hang tight."

Buck shifted over while Cooper popped the driver's side door open, and then climbed out of the back to help Chimney and Cooper carefully extract him from the car. He glanced over to see Hen and Eddie administering CPR to one of the victims from another vehicle, Eddie on his knees, performing chest compressions.

"How is she?" Bobby called, jogging over to them.

"Unconscious, jammed up against the tree," Buck replied, wiping sweat from his forehead before climbing back into the car. He checked her vitals again, made sure that she wasn't decompensating, and said to Chimney, "I think we may be able to get her out if I drop her seat back – we could remove the driver's seat, and slide the backboard under her, and get her out that way?"

"Good plan," Chimney agreed. "Wait in here with her; I'll grab the tools."

Buck monitored her pulse while he waited for Chimney to return, and looked up when Eddie strode past the car, Cooper at his heels. "I'm really sorry, Eddie, I didn't mean to—"

"I'm not interested; I don't want to hear it," Eddie snapped.

Concerned, Buck leaned out of the car, watching as his husband disappeared behind the trucks, Cooper at his heels. Cooper stopped only when Chimney shouted at him, and came jogging back.

"I don't know what I did," he protested.

"I heard what you said to him – Eddie was an army medic, he knows more than you, so cool it. Go help Hen."

Buck fought the urge to chase after Eddie, and tried to focus on his job.

* * *

Eddie ripped his gloves off behind the truck, glancing up when Hen joined him.

"There was nothing you could do," she said. "Don't listen to him."

"I know."

"He's a kid; a cocky kid."

"I know, I know."

Hen leaned against the truck. "There was nothing you could do, Eddie. Don't blame yourself. Don't let this weigh on you."

He nodded, trying to compartmentalise it. The elderly driver had likely suffered a massive heart attack and no amount of CPR was going to save him, but still – Cooper insinuating that his technique was wrong while leaning over his shoulder hadn't made things any easier.

"Cooper!" Bobby called. "Come here."

"He's in trouble," Hen murmured. "He reminds me a lot of Buck when he first started, but I don't think Buck ever tried to correct our techniques."

"Buck's not a jerk," Eddie pointed out, and then spotted Chimney and Buck loading the female passenger of the black Mercedes into the ambulance. "Looks like they got her out."

"I better go," she said, clapping a hand on his shoulder before jogging over to them.

Eddie followed after her, and then realised Bobby had Cooper cornered near the engine, and paused to listen.

"When you come into a situation in the middle," Bobby was saying, "and you question experienced members of the team in relation to something you know nothing about, it's not going to go well. You should've taken a step back and watched what Hen and Eddie were doing before telling Eddie that he was doing something wrong."

"But I just—"

"Cooper, you've been doing this less than six months; Eddie has almost a decade on you, and he was working with Hen, who is our most experienced paramedic. If she thought there was a problem, she would've said something."

"I just thought that he wasn't pressing hard enough—"

"But you didn't know the situation," Bobby pointed out. "You weren't there when they initially assessed the patient. Do you have some kind of a problem with Eddie?"

"No, I just…" Cooper trailed off, looking contrite. "I'm sorry. I understand what you're saying and I won't do that again."

"And I'd like you to apologise to Eddie. Losing someone is never easy, Coop – you haven't experienced that yet, firsthand."

"Will do, Cap. I'm sorry."

Eddie rolled his eyes, wandering back over to the truck, slipping out of his turn-out coat.

"Hey," he heard Buck say breathlessly from behind him. "Are you okay? What happened?"

He shook his head, lips pursed. "No, I'm just… annoyed."

Buck glanced around to make sure they were alone, and stepped in close. "I saw Bobby talking to him. He's just overeager."

"Baby, I love you so much," Eddie said quietly, "but please don't make excuses for him. I'm really pissed off."

"Okay," Buck agreed, but reached out to take his hand. "That's okay. Let's get back to the station."

* * *

Eddie was noticeably silent in the truck, and after they delivered the patients to the hospital and returned to the 118, not even Buck pointing out that there was half an hour to go could elicit a smile from him. Buck watched his husband disappear into the locker rooms, wondering if their special Valentine's night was going to be ruined, when Bobby stepped up beside him.

"How's Eddie?" he asked with concern.

"Quiet. What exactly happened?" Buck asked him.

Bobby gestured for him to follow him to a quiet corner of the station and said, "Eddie was administering CPR – according to Hen, they had a pulse when they pulled him from the vehicle but he coded. They'd been working on him for a few minutes when Cooper came over and told Eddie that he was out of rhythm and that he wasn't pumping hard enough."

Buck cringed. "Oh god."

"Yeah, and a few minutes later, Hen called it. I spoke to Cooper and told him he was out of line; I've spoken to Hen who said that Cooper was well and truly wrong and that Eddie performed everything correctly, but I haven't had a chance to speak to Eddie yet, and I know you two are leaving in approximately…" he checked his watch, "twenty-seven minutes."

"He's in the showers if you want to speak to him before we go," Buck offered.

"Don't leave before I have a chance to talk to him," Bobby said.

"I'll go tell him." Buck patted Bobby on the back and crossed the station, in search of his husband. He found him changing in the locker room, and took a seat on the bench. Eddie leaned in to kiss him in greeting, snorting with laughter when Buck pulled him down onto his lap.

"How long?" he asked, checking to make sure nobody was around.

"Twenty-six minutes, but you gotta talk to Bobby before we go."

Eddie groaned. "I knew that'd be on."

"Yeah, yeah." Buck kissed his shoulder, both hands around his waist. "Cooper fucked up."

"And I should be the bigger person and go talk to him because he's just a probie and he's still learning," Eddie muttered, "but Buck… the guy was dead. I knew he was dead, but you gotta keep going, right? You gotta keep going because there's always the chance that maybe they'll come back."

"Hen hadn't called it."

"No." Eddie paused, and then admitted, "He threw me off. Maybe I—"

"No," Buck cut in, shaking his head. "No, this isn't your fault."

"Maybe I need a refresher course, I don't know." Eddie looked troubled. "Maybe I'm the problem."

"Hey, Hen was there, and Bobby," Buck pointed out. "Come on, Eds. Don't blame yourself."

He sighed. "You're right; I know. I'm sorry I snapped at you before."

"You didn't snap at me," Buck murmured, kissing his cheek. "It's okay to have a bad day, my love."

Eddie smiled at him, stroking the back of his neck. "How long?"

Buck laughed, checking his watch. "Twenty-five minutes."

"Can you give me a hint about the hotel?"

"Nope." Buck leaned in hopefully, and Eddie chuckled, nuzzling his nose before pressing a chaste kiss to his lips.

"Oh shit," someone said, the locker room door banging open.

They broke apart, and when Eddie realised Cooper was standing in the doorway awkwardly, he groaned and stood, turning his back on the young firefighter.

"Sorry," Cooper said awkwardly. "Sorry, I didn't know you guys were making out in here."

"We weren't making out," Eddie practically snapped.

Buck stood, with the intention of ushering Cooper out to give Eddie some space, but Cooper opened his mouth and inserted his foot directly into it. "Yeah, because that would be super unprofessional, right, Eddie? Grinding on your husband in the locker room for everyone to see?" he tried to joke.

Eddie turned to him slowly, his eyes flaring. "Excuse me?"

"Okay, out," Buck said to Cooper, who winced. "Out, now."

"Buck, I'm sorry—"

"I'm not the one you should be apologising to," he cut in. "Out."

Cooper shot him a reproachful look and left the room, muttering about no one being able to take a joke as he stalked away. Eddie slammed his locker door shut, agitated again.

"Don't excuse him," he warned Buck, swallowing hard. "Please don't."

"I'm not," Buck said gently, holding his hands up. "Baby – I'm not. It's okay."

Almost on the verge of tears, Eddie nodded, trying to keep his cool. "I just want to get the fuck out of here," he admitted, his voice cracking. "I was really looking forward to tonight and now I'm just so fucking angry."

"We don't have to do anything, we can just chill in the hotel room and order room service," Buck suggested. "It doesn't have to be a big thing."

"But I want to have the perfect Valentine's Day with you," he complained. "And now I'm pissed off, and you're worried about me and it's all ruined—"

"Eddie, you're putting way too much pressure on this," Buck said, taking him by the hand and pulling him into an embrace. "All I want is to be alone with you. That's it. That's the perfect Valentine's Day for me."

Eddie heaved a sigh, nodding, resting his head on Buck's shoulder. They swayed back and forth, until Buck kissed Eddie's cheek and pulled away, resting his hand on his shoulders, studying him intently. "Are you okay?" he asked seriously.

Eddie made a face, and admitted, "No."

"Okay. How about we postpone tonight until you're feeling better?"

"But it's Valentine's Day and—"

"It's just a day," Buck said gently.

Eddie swallowed hard. "I just wanted to do it right. I never… Shannon hated Valentine's Day, and last year we missed out, and this year… I wanted it to be so romantic and now I just feel like shit."

Buck thought for a moment, and then said, "Well… you know what, Eds? Let's scrap the first part of the plan which was to get all kinky in the hotel room, and instead – let's put on some nice clothes and go out to dinner together."

"It's too late to get a reservation."

Buck leaned in and whispered, "I have a reservation at the rooftop restaurant for you and me at 7pm."

Something sparked in Eddie's eyes that looked a lot like hope, and he actually smiled. "You do?"

"Yep."

"There's a rooftop restaurant?"

"Yup." Buck checked his watch again. "So… let's go upstairs and play video games for a while, and then we'll come back in here with five minutes to go, change and get the fuck out. What do you say?"

Eddie broke into a grateful smile. "Okay. Sounds good."

* * *

Eddie defeated Buck at one round of _Mario Kart_ before Bobby called him over to chat – he groaned inwardly, but followed Bobby into his office to talk through his little incident with Cooper. He left out all of the other stuff that was annoying him and focused only on the situation at the accident scene, agreed that he wouldn't be too hard on Cooper (he had his fingers crossed behind his back for that), and left the room with ten minutes to go – enough time to defeat Buck again, quickly.

They went to the locker rooms to change, ignoring Hen and Chimney's gentle teasing about their romantic Valentine's Day weekend plans, and headed out of the building. As soon as they were out in the fresh air, he began to feel better. Buck's arm was snug around his waist, and they were going to spend two nights alone together at a hotel, which meant he could order all the room service his heart desired. Their Uber arrived swiftly, and once he and Buck were in the backseat together, heading away from the station and Cooper, he could breathe again.

Buck held out his phone to show him a picture of Christopher and Max smiling for the camera. "He's going to be spoiled rotten the next few days," Buck said fondly.

"Which one?" Eddie asked dryly.

He laughed. "Both."

"I do kinda feel bad about taking off without Chris, but… he seemed to be okay with it."

"He knows he's going to be spoiled absolutely rotten," Buck replied, "because your Abuela can't say no to him, and he also knows that when we get back, _we're_ going to spoil him as well."

"Yeah, true," he acquiesced. "Okay; I'll stop worrying."

"Get out of your head for a bit," Buck said gently, brushing his lips against his cheek. "Relax. We have two days off."

"You're right. Two days alone together." He let out a trapped breath, and then remembered something important – his wedding ring, which was nestled in his wallet for safe-keeping. Buck watched while he extracted it and slid it onto his finger, holding his hand up.

"Nice," Buck murmured, and kissed him again.

~

Buck had picked a modern hotel just off Sunset Boulevard – something hip and trendy, with a rooftop pool and bar; and most importantly, an extensive room service menu. They checked in and took the elevator up to the 15th floor. Their room was in the corner, with a view of downtown LA, and they lingered on the balcony for a few minutes. Buck snapped some pictures of the sun setting over the city, and then several of Eddie in the golden light, forcing him to pose like a model until he'd had enough, ducking back into the room with a laugh.

They showered together, trading kisses under the rainfall showerhead, and then dressed for dinner. Buck had booked the rooftop seafood restaurant, and once they arrived at the top floor they found it bustling with people. They were led to their table with its glittering city view, and Buck ordered them a bottle of wine, before taking Eddie's hand across the table.

"So," he said, a twinkle in his eye. "Can we talk about how gorgeous you look tonight?"

Eddie instantly went red, shaking his head. "No; it's all you, babe. Those women over there have been staring at you since we walked in."

"Staring at _us_ ," Buck corrected, "because as Carla says to me often – we make a very handsome couple."

"That we do." Eddie played with his fingers. "Sorry for being so… pissy today."

"You're having a bad day; that's okay. I just wish you would tell me why you don't like Cooper."

He laughed, lifting his shoulders in a shrug. "I mean… there are a lot of reasons; not just one. I don't trust him – with your life, or with mine."

Buck nodded thoughtfully.

"I don't think he listens to instruction; I think he decides how he's going to do things and so far he's gotten lucky, and only one person has been hurt," he said pointedly, raising his eyebrows at Buck, "and I think that… Bobby has an uphill battle on his hands, because he just does what he wants to do."

"I used to be like that," Buck pointed out.

"Not from what Hen and Chim have told me. You listened. He doesn't."

"Maybe with a little bit of time…"

"A little bit of time to get someone killed?" Eddie asked bluntly. "The next time you're doing a rope rescue and I'm not there, are you going to die? Am I gonna get a phone call?"

Buck raised his eyebrows at him, squeezing his hand. "I'm not doing them without you anymore," he pointed out. "We made a deal."

"One day you might have to."

"And so might you," Buck pointed out.

They stared at each other for a few long moments, before Eddie sighed and said, "I spend a lot of time worrying about you, and I feel like… other people don't have these problems. If we were working office jobs, it'd be different."

"You could still get killed in an accident on the way to the office. Nothing is set in stone, but Eddie – we gotta stop worrying about it."

"I know, I know. I just get scared," he admitted, "because I love you so much. And I don't trust him. I wish you'd… take a step back with him, but I feel like that's too much to ask."

Buck gave him a long look, and then said, "If that's what you want, then I'm happy to do that. Okay?"

"But Bobby's training you, and—"

"That doesn't matter. He obviously makes you uncomfortable, and you're more important to me than a probie." Buck paused, and then added, "And it's not often you feel this way about people, Eds, and I trust your gut. If you feel like something is off with him, it probably is."

"I'm not asking too much?" he asked weakly.

Buck shook his head. "No," he replied, and tapped Eddie's wedding ring. "Because you've got my back."

"Right."

"Okay, on Monday – I'll tell Bobby that I need to take a step back." Buck lifted Eddie's hand, pressed his lips to his fingers and said, "And now we stop talking about this."

Eddie smiled at him, filled with relief. "Okay. Deal."

~

Conversation drifted from work to Maddie and Chimney's upcoming wedding, to mutual worry about Sophia, who was still attending marriage counselling, but had pulled away from everyone again. Eddie tried not to fret – his mother and Adriana were on the case, and he and Buck both made sure they kept reaching out to her as well. If she wanted to leave, she would have somewhere safe to stay.

They'd ordered dessert when Buck said, "Christopher's parent-teacher thing is in a couple of weeks, right?"

"Yeah, we've got the night off." Eddie sipped his wine, raising his eyebrows at him. "The math thing."

Buck nodded, making a face. "He's so hard on himself about it. Have you noticed that? Like, he works himself up so much about not doing well."

"This is a new development, though… only this year. I wonder if it's his math teacher? I haven't met him yet; maybe he's putting extra pressure on the kids." Eddie worried at his bottom lip. "We'll get a feel for him when we talk to him. You'll win him over with your personality and I'll ask the hard questions."

Buck laughed. "I'll do my best. Are we doing a good-cop/bad-cop thing?"

"Sure," Eddie said with a chuckle.

"I think if there was a real problem, the teacher would've reached out by now," Buck said. "It's a couple of quizzes; it's not the end of the world. Maybe the current curriculum has him stumped. I mean, we all have stuff we're good and bad at."

"Calculus," Eddie murmured, sipping his drink.

"All of math in general," Buck added. "But I mean, I think he's going to be okay."

"You are the optimist," Eddie replied, and suddenly realised a woman in a red cocktail dress was approaching them determinedly. "We're about to have company."

Buck raised his eyebrows, glancing over his shoulder curiously.

The blonde woman came to a stop at their table, looking back and forth between them, and then said, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you guys firefighters?"

Surprised, Eddie said, "Yeah, we are."

"Ah," she said with a nod. "You won't recognise me, but you guys saved me from a boat fire a couple of years ago. A party boat, in the harbour? I'm not sure if you remember."

"Oh yeah, of course," Buck said, extending his hand so she could shake it. "Nice to see you again. I'm Buck, and this is my husband, Eddie."

"Celia," she replied, embarrassed, and shook Eddie's hand as well. "I just wanted to come over and say thank you so much for everything you did that night."

"You're welcome," Eddie replied awkwardly. "How are you doing?"

"A lot better now," she replied, brushing her hair off her shoulders, "but… still going to therapy; still having nightmares. The lawsuit is still ongoing as well."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Buck said to her. "I never knew the name of the girl who died, but I think about her often."

"That was my cousin, Laura," she said, swallowing hard. "I'm sorry to approach you, but… I recognised you when the video came out of you guys at the pier, and I'm sitting over there with my boyfriend and I thought you looked so familiar, and then it hit me… and I just wanted to say thank you for what you did. You got me off the boat," she said to Eddie, who smiled at her, "and I know you tried to so hard to save Laura," she said to Buck. "Thank you for that."

He nodded, clearing his throat. "I'm glad you're doing okay."

"Yeah, I am. I just wanted to say thank you – sorry for interrupting your night," she apologised.

"It was nice to meet you," Eddie said to her.

"You too." She held her hand up in a wave, and went back to her table.

He looked over at Buck, who was trying to swallow his emotions, gazing out at the city lights. "Let's get our dessert to go," he suggested, taking Buck's hand again.

Buck nodded, and tried to smile. "Okay."

~

They settled in bed together with the TV on, and their dessert spread out on the quilt. Eddie had ordered a decadent chocolate cake, but Buck had opted for a crème brulee, and they swapped plates halfway through.

"We never do this, you know," Eddie said to him, flicking through their movie options. "Just lie in bed together and watch a movie."

"That's because you can't keep your hands off me," Buck replied haughtily, "and I keep telling you that I'm not a piece of meat."

Eddie grinned, finally landing on _The Towering Inferno._ "Have you ever seen this?"

"No; it's old," Buck complained.

"It's not that old – it's the same year as _Jaws_ ," he said, setting his empty plate down on the bedside table before cuddling up next to Buck.

"Do we really want to watch a movie about a fancy hotel burning down when we are in a fancy hotel?" Buck asked, scraping up the last of the chocolate cake.

"Yeah, I do," Eddie replied simply.

Buck smiled at him. "If that's what you want, let's do that. No pressure."

"I mean, I really want to fuck your brains out," Eddie whispered, and Buck let out a laugh. "But I also want to watch this movie and laugh at how bad it is with you."

"I want that too. Tell me, does that enormous building have a glass elevator on the outside? How many storeys is it?"

"Like 120, I think."

Buck hissed. "Seems unsafe."

"It _does_ seem unsafe. You know, I think we're going to pick up on a _lot_ of safety issues in this film," Eddie said, and when Buck set his plate aside, he pulled the blanket up and over them both.

Buck trailed his fingers up and down Eddie's naked back, his eyes trained on the TV. "I can't wait to find out how the fire starts – hey, is that OJ Simpson? What the fuck?!"

* * *

After breakfast, Saturday was spent in bed – Eddie's troubles seemed to have vanished, and Buck awoke, pleasantly surprised to find Eddie pressing soft kisses to his jaw and neck.

"Mmm," he murmured, rolling them over. "Morning."

"Morning." Eddie's fingers trailed up his back. "Sleep well?"

"Sure did." Buck kissed him hungrily, and felt Eddie thrust up against him eagerly. "You ready for some fun now, darling husband?"

"Yep, and then breakfast," Eddie said, twisting his fingers in Buck's hair.

"You want to go to the restaurant—"

"I want _room service_ ," he retorted, pulling himself up on the pillows, and spreading his legs. "I'm all prepped, babe. Come on."

"Did you sneak out of bed early to get ready for me?"

Eddie grinned. "Yeah, because you were so sleepy," he teased, brushing his lips against Buck's again. "Didn't want to wake my sleeping beauty."

"God, you're so sappy in the morning," Buck said, rising to his knees between Eddie's legs, and pushing his hands up and over his head. Eddie tilted his chin up, grinning. "You look fucking amazing. So this is officially Valentine's Day, all right? Yesterday doesn't count; today's the day."

"Yup," Eddie agreed, his breath hitching when Buck's fingers wrapped around his cock. "Come on, please…"

"No, no, it's only early, breakfast can wait," he chided him, leaning over to lick a stripe across his chest. "Let me worship you."

"Mmm," Eddie murmured, tipping his head back. "Yep, okay, but they stop serving breakfast at ten—"

"I will finish worshipping you by 9am, I promise."

Eddie laughed. "Okay, worship away, but kiss me first, baby."

Buck kissed a line from his belly button, up and over his chest to his collarbone, and then to his neck, where he sucked a hickey before continuing up to claim Eddie's lips. As they kissed, Buck reached down to take them both in hand, stroking them together.

"I love you," Eddie said when they parted, gazing up at him with hooded eyes.

"I know, you're all over me all the time," Buck teased, and Eddie let out a loud laugh. "I mean, Jesus Christ, Eds. Waking me up with sex? Come on."

"I'll never do it again—"

"No, no, let's not get carried away," Buck cut in, and kissed him again. He shifted, lifting his hips, and reached down to slide his fingers into his husband's slick entrance, tutting at him. "You know I love to do this for you."

"Thought I'd give you a head start."

"So thoughtful," Buck murmured, slicking his cock with some lube before positioning himself, the head brushing against Eddie before slowly pushing inside. "God, you're still so fucking tight."

"Well, I didn't want to make it too easy," Eddie admitted, letting out a gasp as Buck slid all the way in. "Shit, babe. Fuck."

He took a moment to adjust, staring down at Eddie, whose cheeks were flushed. They locked eyes, and Buck pulled the pillow out from behind Eddie and tossed it aside, grabbing his knees and pushing his legs apart and over his head, kneeling behind him.

Eddie gasped, gripping his thighs, holding himself open, and let out a whimper when Buck began to thrust his hips, leaning over him for a rough kiss.

"Oh fuck," Eddie gasped, throwing his head back. "Fuck me."

"I am," Buck groaned, pulling out completely, bending over to suck Eddie's cock for a few seconds before sliding back in.

Eddie moaned, and when Buck began to thrust his hips in earnest, his jaw went slack.

"Oh baby," Buck murmured, leaning in to kiss him hungrily. "You're so good; this is so good. Fuck, you're amazing."

The bed shook as they fucked, and finally rolled over so Eddie was on top, sinking down onto Buck's cock, stroking himself with one hand. Buck lay back and watched him, catching his breath, sliding his hands up and down his chest.

Eddie swallowed, his neck muscles clenched, and began to roll his hips, letting out a breath. He flashed Buck a cocky grin, and Buck couldn't help but laugh at him, sitting up and holding Eddie on his lap.

Eddie hooked an arm around Buck's neck and gazed at him seriously, stroking his cheek with his fingers. Buck brushed against his lips in a gentle kiss, and Eddie made a little noise, hugging him tightly.

"You're good," Buck said in his ear, kissing his cheek and the side of his neck. "This is so good."

Eddie answered by rolling his hips again, and Buck nuzzled him sweetly before sucking a love bite into the curve of his neck. They were both breathing heavily, clutching each other, when Eddie began to move faster, determinedly, pulling back so he could stare into Buck's eyes as he rode him relentlessly – and under such an onslaught, Buck lost all control as an orgasm ripped through him. He shuddered, finding Eddie's lips in a messy kiss, shaking from the intensity of his pleasure.

"Baby," Eddie whispered, his lips sliding along Buck's cheek. "I got you."

Buck nodded, still trying to catch his breath when he realised that Eddie was still hard. He fisted Eddie's cock in his hand, kissing him wetly, rolling his thumb over the head until Eddie was shivering and gasping, sucking Buck's lower lip. Buck twisted his grip and Eddie let out a shout, coming between them, letting out a sigh and finding Buck's lips again in a messy kiss.

~

Why Eddie loved room service so much, Buck had absolutely no idea, but his favourite part of staying in a hotel was to order from the menu and have it delivered. They ate breakfast in bed, dressed in fluffy white robes, and Buck watched Eddie devour his pancakes with maple syrup and bacon and thought, _I am the luckiest man who has ever lived._

Eddie raised his eyebrows at him questioningly. "What?"

"You and your love of room service," he explained. "Why?"

"I don't know… I like getting meals delivered to me that I didn't have to make." Eddie paused, and then added, "And you know in _Home Alone 2_ , where he gets all the stuff delivered to him at the hotel room? Maybe that scene had an impact on me."

"Do you want to order a mountain of ice cream?" Buck teased him.

"No, because you'd have a stomach ache for days and that's no fun for me," Eddie replied smartly.

"Oh, so you are using me for my body?"

Eddie nodded, smirking at him. "Obviously. I only married you for your looks, babe. That's it."

"Ah, well. We had a good run."

"Better start drawing up the divorce papers. Didn't even make it a year though; what a shame." Eddie stole another strawberry, popped it into his mouth and said, "One year anniversary. What should we do?"

"That's months away."

"Yeah, but still. You want to take some days off, maybe go away somewhere? Mexico?" Eddie raised his eyebrows at Buck hopefully.

"Actually… I was thinking that maybe we hold off on a holiday for a bit," Buck said delicately.

Eddie frowned. "Why?"

"Because… maybe we should head to the Caribbean later in the year."

"Another cruise?" Eddie groaned.

"You loved it, but no – there's a resort in the Bahamas I've been eyeing off. We could fly to Florida, maybe hit up Disney World with Christopher, go to Miami…" Buck waggled his eyebrows at Eddie, who laughed. "And then fly down to the Bahamas and stay at the resort for a few days. Crystal blue water, snorkelling, surfing… could be fun."

"Yeah, but I want you to be really honest with me right now," Eddie said, shifting so he was on his knees, giving Buck a pointed look. "Do you want to go on a cruise? Be honest."

Buck grinned. "Yeah, but I know it's not your favourite thing. I did look into Disney cruises though but they're really expensive, so I changed my mind."

"We can do a cruise if you want—"

"No," Buck said firmly, shaking his head. "We already did that; let's do something different."

"Okay, then… I love the Miami idea, and I love the Bahamas idea," he said, "but…"

"But what?"

"But if we're going away together, just the three of us… I'd like to go to the East Coast, to Philly, and then maybe… we drive up the coast, like we talked about," Eddie said hopefully. "Clam chowder and all that? Go to Boston? We could take a couple of weeks and you can show us where you used to go when you were a kid. Obviously, we do not see your parents."

Visions of making love to Eddie on a white sand beach slowly faded, and Buck sighed. "Really?"

"We just did the island thing," Eddie pointed out.

"Yeah, and I really liked it. Especially the part with you in barely any clothing on the beach."

"I'm in barely any clothing right now," Eddie argued playfully. "You want me to take everything off for you?"

"Yes," Buck said bluntly.

Eddie laughed, climbing off the bed and stripping out of the robe. He held his arms out, gesturing to himself, and said, "Happy?"

"That's a little better." Buck picked at his food, waiting until Eddie was settled on the bed again, and then said, "Okay, road trip up the East Coast – and, if we're in the region, inland to Niagara Falls."

"And then the Bahamas next," Eddie said. "On a cruise, if you want."

"I'll see what kind of deal I can get us."

They finished their breakfast, and then Buck sprawled out on the bed, watching as Eddie set their trays down on the table before joining him again, resting his head on Buck's shoulder.

"Thanks for this," he said, pulling the blanket up around them.

"For what?"

"For planning this weekend, and just… relaxing with me. It's nice not to have to do anything or be anywhere for a change."

"Yeah, it's been a crazy few months," Buck murmured, running his fingers through Eddie's hair. "And I know you're tired."

"Yeah, I am," he replied honestly. "Between work, and the house, worrying about Sophia, worrying about Christopher… I'm really tired. And I'm annoyed because I still don't feel like we've had the perfect Valentine's Day," he complained, glancing up at Buck unhappily. "I wanted to romance you."

"You did," Buck said gently, rubbing his back. "We went out to dinner."

"Yeah, but… we didn't even get each other gifts, like…"

"This hotel room and the huge amounts of room service are our gift," Buck replied. "And what are we even going to get each other? Teddy bears with love hearts? Jewellery?"

"Tattoos," Eddie murmured, raising his eyebrows at Buck hopefully.

"We could do that. You want to go for a walk down Sunset and see what we see?"

Eddie paused, looking around the room. "No," he said. "That'd involve getting dressed."

"It would. If we went out naked, we'd probably get arrested."

"Better not then." Eddie let out a sigh, and hugged him close.

Buck rubbed his shoulder and kissed his forehead softly. "Sleep, babe. Get some rest."

"Mmm." Eddie's eyes were closed. "Okay."

The rest of the day was spent intermittently napping, or having sex – pausing for lunch around 1pm, and then enjoying a post-lunch soak in the bathtub while they listened to music. He hadn't felt quite so relaxed in months. They even ordered a bottle of champagne in the late afternoon and watched the sun set over the city from their balcony.

~

Later that night, as they were cross-legged on the bed with dessert spread out between them, Eddie said, "I want to talk to you about something."

Buck was sprawled out on his side across from him, dipping a strawberry into a pot of melted chocolate. "What's that?"

"Kids."

Surprised, he said, "Kids. Okay. Having kids?"

"Yeah… how we're going to do it. And how Chris is feeling about it."

"Assuming Sophia's eggs are out of the question, we need an egg donor," Buck replied, stealing another strawberry from the fruit bowl. "And we need to save some money."

"Right."

"And then we need to find a surrogate, preferably through an agency, and start that whole process."

Eddie looked discouraged. "Right."

"It was never going to be as straightforward as you knocking me up, you know," Buck teased him.

"You wouldn't handle being pregnant; I'd have to do it," Eddie retorted, snatching a strawberry away before Buck could take it. "Will you stop eating all the strawberries?"

"You know I don't like cantaloupe," Buck complained. "You like cantaloupe; give me the berries."

"Ugh, fine," he said, but snatched a blackberry and popped it in his mouth. "Okay, listen – we probably need to get the ball rolling on this sooner rather than later, right? Because I don't want to be an old dad."

"You're not old," Buck objected loyally.

Eddie grinned. "I'm older than you, and our kid is nearly eleven… he is okay with this, right?"

"He seems to be. He hasn't asked me about it in a while, but I figured when we made the plan, we'd sit down and talk to him," Buck replied, licking chocolate off his thumb. "I'll do some research on this. If we do get eggs from a donor, I'm pretty sure they can do that thing where they mix our sperm together so we don't know who the actual father is."

"When the kid comes out with blue eyes, we'll know," Eddie said dryly.

"Not necessarily; you have Scandinavian blood," Buck pointed out.

"That's true." Eddie chewed on his lower lip, and then said, "Buck, I want… you to be the donor. Not me. I have Christopher, and… I'd like a couple of mini-Buck's running around."

Surprised, Buck said, "Are you sure? We could do the sperm mix thing."

"Well, I liked the idea of having Soph donate her eggs, because then there'd be some of me in there already," he replied, dipping a piece of pineapple in chocolate. "But if that's not the case, then… I think you should be the donor."

"Why?" Buck asked.

"Because… it doesn't matter to me – if you want to do the mix thing, we can do that, but… you know how you love Christopher, like he's your own son?" Eddie asked, and Buck nodded. "Well… any kids we have together, whether they're your sperm or mine – it doesn't matter, because I'll love them no matter what."

"So we do the mix."

"Yeah, but I kinda want blue-eyed mini-Buck's," he whispered, his cheeks red, dimples on full display. "Maybe."

Buck laughed. "If that's what you want, then I'm happy with that."

"Okay. Good." Eddie took another piece of cantaloupe from the plate, and then said quietly, "But I worry about it, you know? Having babies… having our attention taken away from Christopher. I've always wanted a big family, babe, but… there is a part of me that wonders if we should hold off until he's older. Maybe I should stop worrying about being an old dad, focus on Chris for now, and then… start again. Or maybe I won't want to? God, babies are hard work, and we've never talked about how we would handle our jobs."

Eddie had clearly been harbouring some anxiety, and Buck moved the food tray to the end of the bed, crawling over to sit beside him, slipping an arm around his shoulders.

"Do you want to have more children?" he asked quietly, forcing eye contact. "Yes or no."

Eddie hesitated only briefly, and then said, "Yes."

"Are you saying yes because you think it's what I want, and you don't want to upset me?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Because… I don't have to have kids. I have Christopher as well," Buck pointed out.

"Are you just saying that because you think it's what I want to hear?" Eddie asked suspiciously.

Buck hesitated, and then said, "Yes – _but_ us not having kids is not the end of the world. We could travel—"

"No," Eddie cut in, shaking his head. "No, I want kids. I want kids with you – I want your kids, specifically. I want little blue-eyed Bucks running around. I want that; I do."

"Are you—"

"Yes, I'm sure," he said firmly, resting his hands atop Buck's shoulders. "Would we be having this conversation if one of us was a woman?"

"Probably not."

"No. It'd just be the thing we did." Eddie stroked his thumbs up and down Buck's neck, gazing at him seriously. "Kids are in our future. I just needed you to know where I'm coming from."

"We will always be there for him, Eds. He's growing up. He'll be a teenager soon, and he's already so independent. If he was against us having kids, I'd re-think it. Honestly… you and Christopher, your happiness, means more to me than having kids of my own. I just want you both to be happy," Buck said firmly. "With me, preferably."

Eddie grinned. "We are," he replied, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. "And I do want kids."

"So maybe we just need a little more time," Buck suggested. "We haven't even been married a year yet."

"Right," Eddie agreed with relief.

"But I'm going to look into what we exactly have to do, and we can go from there," Buck suggested. "We'll make a decision."

Eddie nodded, stroking his face. "God, I love you. I love you so much."

Buck smiled at him. "I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing you say that to me," he replied, leaning in to kiss him again.

* * *

Their weekend concluded by picking Christopher and Max up from Abuela's and taking them home, and upon their return home Christopher talked Buck into helping him take photos of Max in the backyard. Eddie left them to it, but watched from the back windows while he called Sophia.

The phone rang in his ear, until finally her voicemail picked up. "Please leave a message for Sophia after the beep."

"Hey Soph," he said, clearing his throat. "Call me back, okay? I'm just checking in. We miss you." He paused, and then added, "I love you. Talk to you soon."

He ended the call, glancing out at the backyard again. Max was perched atop a seat, dressed in one of his many outfits, accepting treats from Christopher while Buck snapped photos of him. Eddie watched them for a minute, smiling fondly, and then placed another call.

"Yes, Eddie," Adriana all but barked into the phone.

"Hi, nice to talk to you too," he retorted.

"Sorry, I've got kids yelling at me, and our office nearly burned down today—"

"What?!"

She groaned. "Fuck, I forgot you're a firefighter. No, it's fine – the alarms went off. It was an electrical fire caused by a faulty photocopier, but we had working extinguishers and put it out before the fire engine turned up. Such a pain in the ass, though. How are you? Did you and Buckaroo have a nice weekend away?"

"We just stayed at a hotel downtown," he replied, leaning back into his seat, watching Buck crawl around on his hands and knees, trying to take the perfect photo. "It was really nice; just the two of us."

"Well, you've both been working your asses off," she replied. "I'm happy to hear that you stopped for a couple of days. Now, why are you calling me?"

"I just tried Soph – no answer."

"Yeah, she's probably with _him_ ," she replied, and he could almost hear the eye-roll over the phone. "She won't answer if they're together. Hopefully, she'll call you back later."

"She's okay though, right?"

"Yes, I saw her yesterday. She seemed… better? But she didn't say too much about counselling or anything, other than it's going well, and things aren't so bad. Honestly, Eddie – I think she's lying. I have no proof, but she just seemed cagey about everything."

"No bruises, right?"

"None that I could see. Mom has been going over multiple times a week to make sure she's okay. I'm sure Sophia is annoyed by all the attention, but... I also think if it were me, she'd be doing the same thing."

"Yeah, she would." He chewed on his thumbnail, watching as Buck and Christopher dressed Max in yet another outfit – a green vest and a four-leaf clover hat. "Okay, I just wanted to check."

"I know you're worried, but… she needs to make the decision for herself, when she's ready. You know what she's like – she's a stubborn little donkey and she can dig her heels in when she wants to."

He laughed. "Yeah, that is true."

"You know I only speak the truth – speaking of, how are you going with that new guy at work? Checking out yo' man?" she teased.

He regretted ever mentioning it to her, and glanced out at Buck again, who was lying on his back, almost underneath the chair, taking photos of Max from below.

"I haven't said anything to him about it," he admitted. "I didn't want him to feel uncomfortable, and I haven't caught Cooper doing anything else."

"But you're being a little bitch about it and freezing him out, right?"

"Yeah, I don't really have much to do with him… everyone has noticed; I keep getting asked about it, but…" he trailed off. "I feel like an idiot. Possessive? Over _Buck_ , who has told me on numerous occasions that he doesn't even see other people anymore? It's so stupid. He'd never cheat."

"And I think you realise how gorgeous both of you are," she pointed out. "I bet he feels possessive when people are checking you out, too."

"I don't think people check me out," he replied honestly, and when she snorted with laughter in his ear, he protested, "What?"

"Eddie! Where's Buck? I need to ask Buck this question," she said. "Put him on the phone."

"He's taking photos of our cat with our son," he replied. "I'm not disturbing the artist at work."

"You will disturb him or I will text him. Ask him to come to the phone, now."

He heaved a sigh, and then reached to open the window. "Buck, Adriana needs to ask you a question."

Buck hopped to his feet, passing the camera to Christopher. "All right, but we gotta be quick, because the light is perfect right now," he called as he turned to jog into the house.

When he arrived at Eddie's side, Eddie said into the phone, "Okay, ask him."

"Buck – do you notice when people are checking Eddie out? Do people—"

"Yes, every single day of my life," Buck interrupted. "This morning it was the lady at reception who kept looking at his butt. Two days ago one of the women at our scene kept taking photos of him as he was working. A week ago one of the women at Christopher's school came up to me and asked me if I was Christopher's uncle and was Eddie single, and if he is single, would I set them up. I said, 'ma'am, he's my husband,' and she looked at me and said, 'Well, that's a real shame.' I could go on."

"No," Eddie pleaded, at the same time as Adriana barked, "Yes, continue."

Buck flashed him a grin and said, "When we were at the restaurant the other night the waitress kept coming over and topping up Eddie's water, and lingering over our table. There's a woman at the grocery store we see all the time who literally follows him around. She works in the store, and she has one of those price check things, and she will follow us from aisle to aisle, staring at him. I spend half the time shopping and half the time shooting her death stares." Buck rested both hands on Eddie's shoulders, gave him a meaningful look and said, "You're mine."

Eddie let out a laugh, nodding up at him. "I am."

"So why are you asking me this?" Buck asked, leaning over the phone.

"My brother said to me that nobody checks him out."

Buck laughed loudly, cupping Eddie's cheeks, leaning in to kiss him. "You're so oblivious," he said affectionately. "I love you."

"I love you too," Eddie replied, tilting his chin up for another kiss.

"Ugh, this is not the kind of interesting gossip I stayed on the phone for," Adriana complained. "Buck, go away."

"Yes, ma'am." Buck saluted the phone and hurried back out to the backyard. "Golden hour, Christopher! Let's get some shots before we lose the light!"

"See?" Adriana asked smartly. "Of course people look at you – they probably stare at the both of you all the time. This guy at your work; it's no different. He's looking at Buck because how could he not? You married an insanely good-looking man."

Eddie glanced out the window, to where Buck was dressing Max up as a mermaid, and said, "Yeah, but he's the biggest goof."

"So are you," she replied. "But look – you haven't got anything to worry about, and like you said, if you tell Buck you saw this guy checking him out once, he's going to be paranoid about it. I mean, obviously if you see him hitting on your husband, maybe point that out, but… a guy taking a look at your super handsome husband? Not enough to murder him for."

Eddie's eyes lingered on Buck, and said, "Well… not quite."

" _Eddie._ "

"I know, I know. I just don't like this guy. I asked Buck to take a step back."

"And he was okay with that?"

He shrugged. "He seems to be, and he said he'd talk to Bobby about it, so I guess we'll see what happens at work."

Adriana was silent for a moment, and then said, "I think you're making a mistake. From what you've told me, Buck is on the rise, right? He's actively working towards becoming a captain."

"Yeah, he is," Eddie replied, watching Buck, who was struggling to slide Max's back legs into a mermaid tail while Christopher giggled hysterically beside him.

"I'm gonna be real with you, bro," she said, and he groaned. "No, no – this is real talk. If I had two employees who were married to each other working for me, and one of them came to me and said, 'My husband has requested that I not work with so and so for whatever reason,' I'd be hella suspicious. For one, it's completely unprofessional."

Eddie blinked. "It is?"

"Yes, dude. You can't ask Buck not to do his job; not to work with this guy. If something had happened – if the guy had actually sexually harassed Buck, or whatever – then sure. But now? As it stands? You caught the guy looking at him and you've been fuming about it ever since."

"It's not just that; it's the comments," he protested. "Buck's heard him make weird comments as well."

"So have Buck sit him down and tell him that it's not cool, but do not, under any circumstances, involve Bobby at this stage," she warned. "If he tries something – if it escalates – then go to him with your concerns, but not right now, Eddie. You're going to look petty as fuck. You're going to look like a man who can't handle other people checking out his partner, and that makes you look like a dick. Possessive, controlling, jealous – do you really want to be that guy? You just sat here and told me that you know Buck won't cheat – if you continue with this, and involve Bobby, it's going to look like you don't trust him at all."

She was right. He pressed a hand to his head, suddenly feeling incredibly stupid. "Fuck."

"Yeah, I know. Look – you don't like the guy; you don't trust him – sure. That's valid. But Eddie… Buck's a grown man. He's your husband, and he loves you so much. Don't make him question it. Don't make yourself look stupid because of this one guy, okay? Buck's got a bright career ahead of him… and he's already on the naughty list with the LAFD, so… don't rock the boat if you don't have to. This guy is young, and stupid, and Buck's hot. Can you blame him for having a look? I mean, he's not _my type_ , but still."

He laughed. "Yeah," he said. "You're right. Fuck. I'll talk to him tonight."

"God, you guys are stupid, but I love you. I've gotta go, but I'll talk to you during the week, little bro. Love you."

"Love you too," he replied, and ended the call. He pocketed his phone and wandered out to the backyard, grinning when Buck rolled over onto his back and smiled up at him. "I say we go out for dinner," he said, and his heart lifted when their faces lit up. "Where do you want to go?"

"Cheesecake Factory!" Christopher shouted.

"Seconded," Buck agreed, snapping a photo of Eddie. "Babe, come here. Let me take some pictures of you guys with Max."

"Set it up on a timer and we'll take a family portrait," Eddie suggested. "I'll get the tripod."

"Okay!" Buck leapt to his feet, and then added, "Quick – the light is fading, Eds! Quick!"

"Okay, okay," he laughed, and hurried into the house.

When he returned with the tripod, he found Max was wearing his red plaid vest, and Buck and Christopher were waiting for him. He set the camera up to take a burst of pictures after a 15-second timer and joined them – Christopher beside Max on his stool, with Buck and Eddie behind it. Buck's arm went around Eddie's shoulders, and they were ready and smiling for the first picture, and the second, but then Buck turned to him and kissed him sweetly for the remainder of the photo burst.

~

Christopher was practically asleep when they returned home from the Cheesecake Factory, stuffed full of food. Eddie carried him down to his bedroom while Buck tidied and locked up the house.

Eddie helped Christopher into his pyjamas and then tucked him into bed, perching on the edge while he flipped through the stack of books on the bedside table. Max leapt up onto the bed and settled into his usual nook, with Christopher's arm around him, and Eddie read for a while, until they were both sleeping soundly.

He flipped off the light and wandered out through the house. Downstairs was already locked up, so he went upstairs to their bedroom, where Buck was turning down the bed.

Eddie leaned against the doorframe, unbuttoning his shirt. "Don't talk to Bobby tomorrow about Cooper."

Buck looked over at him with surprise. "No?"

"No. My sister pointed out to me that I might be a little melodramatic because I don't like him, but… it's not like he's done anything to us, except nearly kill you—"

"Accident."

"And make some weird comments to me. We're both going to look stupid when Bobby asks why you don't want to work with him," he said, stripping out of his clothes. "I'll try not to be a dick to him."

Buck pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it into the hamper, and said, "If he does anything to make you uncomfortable again when I'm not around, tell me about it. Okay?"

"Okay, deal."

"And I'll talk to him tomorrow and tell him that making weird comments about us isn't cool." Naked, Buck crawled onto the bed beside him, stretching out with a yawn. "And you can hate him all you want, but just… be quieter about it."

Eddie chuckled as he joined him. "Deal." He reached over to touch the soft blue lamp to tell Christopher a final goodnight, and then flipped off the overhead light.

"Good." Buck moved so he was resting his head on his shoulder. "My tummy hurts."

"I told you not to eat that whole piece of cheesecake," Eddie said, concerned, reaching out to rub slow circles on his belly. "You could've brought the rest home."

"I thought I could handle it," Buck complained. "Maybe a weekend of eating nothing but rich food has upset my delicate constitution."

"Oh no," Eddie said with a grin. "My poor sweetheart."

"Mmm, say nice things to me."

"You're beautiful," Eddie whispered, dropping a kiss on Buck's nose. "You're sweet, and funny, and kind."

He could feel Buck smiling against his shoulder. "I am?"

"Mmmhmm. And you make me so happy, every day… I can't imagine life without you." He stroked slow circles on Buck's stomach with one hand, running his fingers through his hair with the other. "The love of my life."

"Mmm, Eddie," Buck murmured, on the verge of sleep. "I love you."

"I love you too, baby." Eddie pressed soft kisses to his forehead until Buck was asleep, breathing evenly, and then closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep with his arms around his husband.

~


	2. Chapter 2

"Eds," Buck said, leaning through the locker room door. "Coffee?"

Eddie had a large streak of mud from his shoulder to his waist from their first rescue of the day – a little girl who had climbed into a storm drain to save a kitten. They'd rescued both her and the cat, but Eddie's uniform had practically been ruined in the process.

"Yeah," Eddie said, wiping a streak of mud off his chin. "Just the usual, babe."

"Okay," Buck said, and blew him a kiss. "Back soon." He went back out to the station with a list of coffee orders, and spotted Cooper hanging out in the gym. "Coop!" he called. "Come with me. Coffee run."

"Sure thing!" Cooper exclaimed, leaping up from his spot. "You sure you want me to go?"

"This is a two-man job," Buck said, leading him out of the station, waving to Bobby on the balcony as they headed out onto the street. "Did you have a good weekend?"

"Yeah, not too bad, met this amazing girl on Tinder and spent Saturday night with her," he boasted, nudging Buck with his elbow. "Other than that, just played some video games, did a couple of hikes – you know, the usual. How about you?"

"Eddie and I booked into a hotel for two nights," he said, as they stepped out into warm sunlight. "It was great; very relaxed."

"The quiet life," Cooper said. "Just married life, huh? Must be boring."

"Nope, never boring. Hey listen, I need to talk to you about something," Buck said – he was internally dreading the conversation, but they had to have it.

"What's up?" Cooper glanced at him expectantly.

"You gotta stop with the jokes, dude. You're pissing Eddie off," he said bluntly. "There was the crack about him grinding on me—"

"No, you – that was just a joke," Cooper began to splutter. "I just – I walked into the locker room and you guys were making out—"

"We weren't making out; he gave me a kiss when we were alone, in the locker room," Buck replied. "Listen – if you're uncomfortable because we're both men, if there's some kind of homophobia going on—"

"No, I'm not homophobic, I swear," Cooper said desperately, and then grabbed his arm, yanking him to a stop. "Listen, man – I know Eddie doesn't like me, and… I'm terrified of him? Like, legitimately terrified."

Buck furrowed his brow. "Why? He would never do anything to you—"

"No, he's fucking intimidating," Cooper replied, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Like… both of you are, but you're a lot more approachable. I mean, I knew about you guys when I was in the academy. People talk about you – I remember that viral video, like… you guys are sort of famous within the LAFD. And Eddie's got a reputation as a badass."

Buck was caught between amusement and annoyance (was he not a badass as well?), but he tried to keep his expression neutral. "Well, you haven't done yourself any favours with him, Coop. I just need you to cool it with the jokes, okay? Even if you're feeling awkward, just… don't crack a joke, dude. The 118 is our home and we need to feel comfortable there as well."

"Yeah," Cooper murmured, his hands on his hips. "Yeah, I get it."

"And the other thing – when we're training, you gotta listen to me. You keep getting distracted. If I'm training you, you've got to focus on the job, okay? Like yeah, you're my friend, we'll talk and hang out and stuff, but… when I'm giving you instructions, you need to listen. We can save the chit chat for later."

Cooper nodded, his head hanging unhappily. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I just think you're super cool."

"I'm not; my husband will tell you I'm a dork," Buck said, and punched his shoulder lightly. "Come on – I hate having to do this, but I just had to say it. If you chill out around Eddie, he'll chill out around you."

"Okay," Cooper said, and met his eyes again. "Okay, I will."

"Good." Buck held out his fist, and Cooper bumped it with his own. "All right, let's go get some caffeine."

~

To Buck's surprise, he noticed a change in Cooper right away. Gone were the awkward attempts at jokes while they were training – he was focused and attentive. He even apologised to Eddie that evening in the locker room as they were readying to leave, and when he held his hand out, Eddie shook it.

Of course, in the car on the way home Eddie grumbled about still not trusting him, but over the course of the following week, there seemed to be a definite improvement. Bobby noticed it as well, and took Buck aside to tell him that he was doing a great job with the training.

Things were good at work, and at home as well, until it wasn't.

Eddie dropped Buck at home to relieve Carla on the Thursday afternoon after work, and then went to do the grocery shopping. She bustled out the door before he'd even made it up the pathway to the house – "No time to chat, I'm late for dinner with the girls!" she said breathlessly, but stopped long enough to kiss him on the cheek.

"See you tomorrow," he said with a laugh, turning to watch as she bustled down the driveway to her car. He waited until she'd driven away, waving goodbye, and then continued into the house, taking his shoes and coat off at the door before searching for Christopher. "Chris? Let's play some video games before your Dad gets home," he called, stretching his arms over his head as he wandered through the house. "Chris?"

Max came padding down the hallway towards him, letting out a pitiful yowl. Buck realised Christopher's door was shut, which was completely out of the ordinary, and picked the cat up as he went to knock on it. "Chris?" he called, pressing his ear to the door. "You okay, kiddo?"

A muffled sob came from inside, and his heart seized. He opened the door and stepped into the room, and found Christopher seated on the floor with his knees to his chest, weeping uncontrollably.

"Oh my god," he said urgently, setting Max down on the bed before dropping to his knees. "Chris – what's happened? Are you okay?"

Christopher shook his head, tears streaming down his cheeks, unable to speak.

"What's going on?" Buck asked, fumbling for his phone. "I'll call your Dad and he'll come home, kiddo – just tell me what's wrong."

Christopher didn't reply, covering his face with his hands. Terrified, Buck slid across the floor and pulled his trembling son into his lap, wrapped him up in a hug and sent Eddie a text – _SOS COME HOME NOW_

Christopher sucked in a heaving breath, clutched Buck's shirt, and cried. Buck locked his arm around him, tucked Christopher's head under his chin and said, "It's okay, buddy. Whatever it is, it's okay. You're okay. I'm here, and nothing is going to hurt you. I promise."

He murmured reassuring things until the crying began to taper off, rocking him back and forth, waiting for Eddie to return home. Max paced back and forth in front of them, tail swishing, confused and concerned.

Ten minutes had passed when he heard the front door bang open and Eddie shout frantically, "Guys? Buck? Buck!"

"In here," Buck called, and footsteps pounded down the hall.

Eddie burst into the room, sweating, and dropped to his knees in front of them. "What's happened?" he asked, sliding his hands across Christopher's back. "What's going on?"

"He won't tell me," Buck replied, passing Christopher over to Eddie, who cupped his face with both hands, gazing down at him with concern. "Is it school, kiddo? Did something happen at school?"

Christopher's face screwed up. He gripped the collar of Eddie's shirt with one hand and nodded, before pressing his forehead against Eddie's chest.

Eddie and Buck had a silent conversation, and Buck stood, reaching for the school bag discarded on the desk. Max began to patrol around Eddie, bumping his head against Christopher's bare foot every time he completed a circuit.

Buck sat down on the bed, searching through the bag for any evidence. He wondered if math was the answer and found the workbook, and as he flipped it open, a slip of paper fell out.

Christopher had totally flunked a math test. Out of fifty problems, he'd only answered a quarter correctly. Christopher was _smart_ , and he was excelling in his other subjects, so the fact that he'd done so poorly on a math test was cause for concern.

He passed the sheet over to Eddie and slid back down on the floor beside them. Max leapt onto his lap, purring, kneading Buck's knee with his front paws.

Eddie read through the test, his lips downturned, and said, "You failed your test."

Christopher sniffled loudly.

"It's not the end of the world, kiddo – Buck and I failed plenty of tests when we were in school," Eddie said gently, passing the paper back to Buck. "Math just isn't your strong suit."

"But – the teacher wants to sp-sp-speak with you," Christopher choked out, "and put me into the sp-special class."

Buck and Eddie locked eyes again. "Nobody has called me, kiddo," Eddie said after a moment. "There's a parent-teacher meeting at your school next week. Buck and I will talk to your teacher then."

"I can't do it," Christopher moaned, and began to sob again. "I don't understand a-any of it."

' _A tutor?_ ' Buck mouthed to Eddie, who nodded.

He rubbed Christopher's back gently until he settled down, and then said, "When I was around your age, I couldn't get a passing grade in science. My brain just didn't understand any of it. You know how you and Buck love all that science stuff – how it's interesting to you? How you want to read more about it?"

Christopher nodded, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "Yeah."

"Well, my brain doesn't work like that. I love that you guys are interested in it, and I like when you tell me facts, but I don't want to go out and read books about any of the stuff you're into, like Buck does," he said. "Buck just gives me the highlights. Sometimes there are things we're just not interested in, and kiddo, I think math might be that thing for you."

"I hate it," Christopher whispered.

"I hate it too," Buck said to him, scratching behind Max's ears. "I hated it in school. I did really badly."

"But my teacher said that I'm f-failing and that if I'm not good at math I w-won't get a good j-job and—"

"Kiddo, you are ten years old," Eddie interjected, his eyes flicking to Buck again. "A job is not something you have to worry about right now."

"B-but college and—"

"I can guarantee you that failing this one math test does not mean you won't get into college," Buck reassured him, rubbing Christopher's back. "If that was true, they never would've let me in. I failed a bunch of tests."

"You don't have to worry about any of that now, and your teacher shouldn't even be saying that stuff to you," Eddie added. "Your future is bright, kiddo – one test doesn't determine which path you choose to take. Your teacher is putting an awful lot of pressure on you for something that is so far in the future."

Christopher still looked miserable. "I want to be good at everything," he whispered.

"Nobody is good at everything," Eddie said diplomatically. "Maybe math is one of the things you're not good at. We could see if there was someone available to help you one-on-one? A tutor?"

Christopher was silent, his fingers still curled in the collar of Eddie's shirt. He finally said, "One test isn't the end of the world?"

"No, buddy, not at all," Eddie reassured him. "Buck and I know how hard you must have tried."

"I really did," he admitted, screwing his face up. "I just… the numbers don't make sense."

"Well, we're going to find a solution," Eddie said firmly. "All three of us will figure this out. Come on, kiddo. Let's get your face washed – why don't you and Buck watch a movie or something while I get groceries and dinner? Just relax for a while."

"I'll go get groceries," Buck said, "so you two can chill and watch the movie together. I'll pick us up something nice for dinner."

"Are you sure?" Eddie asked him, his head resting on top of Christopher's again.

"Yeah – if I'm in charge of groceries, that means I get the good cereal," Buck said to Christopher, who actually managed a smile. "Captain Crunch."

"No," Eddie objected, giving him a mock-glare. "Don't you dare."

Buck winked at Christopher, and then rose to his feet. "I won't be long," he said, leaning over to press a kiss to Eddie's lips, and one to the top of Christopher's head. "You guys take it easy."

* * *

Eddie sat down with Christopher on the couch, let him choose the movie – _Ghostbusters_ – and pulled him in close, running his fingers through his hair. In his head he mentally made a list of things to talk to the math teacher about, starting with, ' _How dare you.'_

More than anything, and despite how annoyed he was with the teacher, he was worried about Christopher's reaction to failing the test. It was so unlike his happy-go-lucky kid to be so hard on himself, to get worked up into such a state that he was crying uncontrollably about his schoolwork. He wondered if there was something else going on at _school_ – or, more worryingly, if it was something Christopher was dealing with internally and not telling him about.

They were about half an hour into the movie when he pressed pause, and Christopher looked up at him questioningly. "What's wrong?" he asked, confused.

Eddie turned so he was facing him – and sighed when Max immediately jumped up onto his lap, turning around in slow circles to make himself comfortable. The cat was enough for some of Christopher's tension to ease, and he reached out to scratch Max behind the ears.

"I want to talk to you about pressure," Eddie said after a moment. "About how you deal with pressure and things going wrong. Buck and I have known for a while that you've been struggling with math, and we've tried to talk to you about it, but you've reassured us that everything was okay. I'm starting to think you've been lying to me, kiddo."

Christopher's eyes filled with tears, and Eddie shook his head, taking him by the shoulders. "I don't want you to cry – I'm not mad at you; I'm not angry at all. I just want to understand what's going on in your head so we can figure out how to make things better."

Christopher leaned over to pat Max again, and said hesitantly, "I hate it when you're upset."

"I'm not upset, at all," Eddie reassured him.

He shook his head, swallowing hard. "Or when you're worried about me. I just want you not to worry about me."

Eddie slid his hands down Christopher's arms, gazing at him thoughtfully. "Buddy, I hate to tell you this, but I'm your dad," he said gently. "There's not going to be a day that goes by in my whole life that I'm not worried about you in some way or another – even if it's just a silly thing, like, it's raining, and I hope Christopher has his raincoat on. You know what I mean? You're my kid – it's part of my job as your dad to be a little worried about you all the time, because I love you so much."

Christopher nodded slowly. "Okay."

"So when you bottle stuff up, and it all just comes bursting out – that's not a good way to deal with things that have you worried. With school – I know how hard you try. And I know how much you love it as well," he said. "I know it's not because you haven't been putting in effort. I know you're a good kid and you're smart; you're a lot smarter than me, with that big old brain of yours," he teased, and when Christopher smiled, he cupped his cheek. "So I don't want you to think that Buck and I would ever yell at you for failing a test. We're not like that."

"Joey said his mom grounded him," he whispered.

"I'm not going to ground you for failing something I know you tried hard at," Eddie said, stroking his cheek. "And I know you want us all to be happy all the time, but life has ups and downs. I just don't want you to feel like you can't talk to us when something is bothering you. We want to help."

Christopher nodded again, and then whispered, "Do you think I'm dumb?"

"No. Not at all."

"But I can't do it."

"We all have things we can't do – I can't cook; Buck can't sing, or dance very well – or shuffle cards," Eddie pointed out. "And you know I’m a plant killer as well."

"But at school…" Christopher trailed off. "You could do everything, and I can't."

Eddie shook his head. "I didn't go to college; I didn't even apply. I didn't get grades good enough. I hated being stuck in a classroom – I always wanted to be out doing things. We're different – that's all. You like to study and use your brain and figure things out, and I like to use my hands."

"What does Buck like?"

"Both," Eddie said, tapping his forehead. "He's got a big brain and big hands."

At that Christopher laughed. "Okay."

Eddie smiled at him, taking both his hands. "I know you don't need us to look over your shoulder anymore when you're doing your schoolwork, but… maybe we work through your math homework together. I can try my best to help. And I'll talk to your teacher at the parent-teacher conference."

"I don't want to get in trouble."

"You won't. We're going to figure out a solution." Eddie leaned in to kiss his forehead and said, "Next time, when you're feeling this way – don't let one of your worries be about upsetting us. We're your parents – we're here to help."

"I just want us to be happy all the time."

"You having a bad day isn't going to wreck our happiness," Eddie promised him.

Christopher nodded, wiping his eyes. "Okay."

"Okay. Come here," Eddie said, evicting the cat from his lap and holding out his arms. "Come cuddle with me while we watch the movie."

Christopher crawled into his lap, leaning against him. Max sat on the floor and gazed up at them unhappily, before leaping up onto the couch again and arranging himself in Christopher's lap, his tail swishing back and forth.

"Besides," Eddie said in his ear, "Max is the one you've got to worry about upsetting."

Christopher grinned, running his hands down Max's back. "He loves me."

"Yeah, you're his favourite, for sure." Eddie hugged him close, and then started the movie again. "God, I hope Buck isn't going crazy at the supermarket."

"I hope he _is._ "

~

Sure enough, Buck returned home with an assortment of items they didn't need – Count Chocula and Captain Crunch, for one – and Eddie immediately confiscated the box of Pop Tarts and shoved them at the top of the pantry cupboard. "Never letting you loose in the supermarket again."

"Aw, you love it," Buck teased, dishing out their dinner. He'd stopped at their favourite Italian place and picked up some pasta to go, and Christopher's eyes lit up when Buck held up a container of spaghetti and meatballs. "Got your favourite, and I asked them to put extra cheese on top."

"Thank you," Christopher said eagerly.

"Go sit down at the table and I'll bring it out in a sec – and Chris, Max is not to sit on the table. I mean it," Buck said, as Christopher started out to the dining room.

"He won't," he called back, but Buck glanced at Eddie, who was grinning.

"He will," Eddie murmured, slipping an arm around his waist. "I calmed him down. Going to make an appointment to talk with his teacher when I'm not as pissed off."

"I'll come with you; keep you cool." Buck pressed a kiss to his temple. "All right, let's eat."

They sat down together, and in no time, Christopher had a streak of marinara sauce across his cheek and Max was on the table beside him, delicately reaching out with one paw every so often in a pitiful attempt to steal a meatball. Eddie reached over with a napkin to wipe Christopher's face, and then tried to nudge the cat off the table.

"We have got to start teaching him some manners," Buck remarked. "He's brazen."

"I kinda feel like that's your fault," Eddie replied. "If I recall correctly, you started letting him on the table while you were having lunch because he was feeling left out."

"He was feeling left out," Christopher said, screwing his face up at Max affectionately. "He likes to be with us."

"He likes to be with _you_ ," Buck corrected. "You're his person."

"I am?"

"Yep. He chose you, kiddo."

Max was reaching out with one paw again, trying to steal a meatball. Christopher patted his head, and then leaned over to hug him. "He's a good boy."

"Best cat ever," Eddie agreed, digging into his plate of lasagne. "You picked a winner. Do I wish he didn't shed everywhere? Yes."

"Do I wish he didn't claw our couches, beds and occasionally poop on the floor? Also yes," Buck added.

"But we put up with it because we love him, and he's a Diaz," Eddie finished.

Max yawned.

~

Eddie had just finished doing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen when his phone began to ring, and Adriana's picture flashed on the screen. He didn't think too much of it as he went to answer, but when Buck's phone began blaring in the other room, he broke out into goosebumps. "Adriana?"

"She's missing," Adriana said breathlessly – and from the way her voice was clenched, he could tell she was on the verge of tears. "That prick swears he had nothing to do with it, but her car is missing and so are the kids."

"How long?" he demanded.

"He got home at seven, he says, so she could've been gone all day. I've tried calling her, texting – nothing. She hasn't been on Facebook and she's not responding. She wouldn't leave without telling me," she said, and broke into sobs. "She just _wouldn't_."

Buck appeared in the doorway, his eyebrows knitted together, phone to his ear. "Helena, she's not here," he said. "She's not with us."

"Call the police," Eddie said to Adriana.

"We have! They're on the way," she replied, frustrated. "Eddie, I'm freaking out. He swears up and down that he didn't do anything to her, but I don't fucking believe him, and I should've made her leave – god, I should've done anything more than what I did! But I kept telling myself that she's a grown-up and it's her fucking decision but now she's missing, oh my god. If anything has happened to them, I'll kill him myself."

"Did the kids go to school? Find out if the kids went to school," Eddie said, raking a hand through his hair. "Security cameras? Neighbours? You need to start knocking on doors. Was he definitely at work?"

"He says he was – oh thank god, the cops are here. I'll call you back," she said, and hung up in his ear.

Eddie's heart was pounding. He tried Sophia's number, but it went straight to voicemail. "Soph, call me when you get this," he said desperately. "Please call me and let me know you're okay."

Buck ended his call with Helena, frozen in place, staring at the floor. He lifted his head and then scrolled through the contacts on his phone before placing another call.

Maddie answered after the first ring. "Hey, Buck," she said cheerfully. "What's going on?"

"Have you heard from Sophia?" he asked. "She's missing."

There was a long pause, and then Maddie repeated, "Missing. How?"

"Car's gone, kids are gone and so is she."

"Has she packed?"

"Not sure," he replied, pulling Eddie into his arms. "We just got frantic phone calls from Adriana and Eddie's mom – they've only just realised she's not at home."

Maddie was quiet again. "She never mentioned leaving him. Ever. I talked to her last week and she was adamant that they were going to continue couple's counselling. Oh god. Okay, I'm coming over."

"Try calling her, Maddie," Eddie said into the phone. "She might answer for you."

"I'll try – I'll be there in five minutes."

When Maddie ended the call, Eddie and Buck stood silently for a moment, staring at each other. Eddie finally said, "Do I go to El Paso? Leave tonight?"

"I don't think she's in El Paso anymore, Eds. I think she's taken the kids and left," Buck replied.

"What if he—"

"Do you think he's capable of it? Do you think he's capable of covering it up if he did do it? Is he smart enough?"

Eddie pictured Martin - he'd never liked him, not really, and everyone thought Sophia could've chosen someone better but she was adamant that he was the one – and granted, when they'd gotten married, he'd been a different guy. Marriage had changed him and not for the better – he'd become possessive, jealous and mean.

Eddie pulled Buck in for a hug, burying his face against his chest. "I don't think he's capable of it, but… you never really know, do you?" he asked, his voice muffled.

"No." Buck kissed the top of his head. "Oh god, I don't know what to do. I want to go but I really think she's okay, and she's taken the kids somewhere, and she'll let us know when she gets there. I just wish she would've told someone that was what she was doing… but I guess Maddie never told me before she turned up."

"No, she just left… and maybe Sophia did too." Eddie glanced at the clock on the wall and said, "It's getting late. Will you put Chris to bed? I'm going to call Adriana again."

"Okay, deal." Buck cupped his face and kissed him, and then whispered, "It'll be okay."

"What if it's not?"

"I know your sister – she'll be okay," he said, and kissed him again.

~

Maddie arrived, and they spent the next hour on speaker phone with the rest of the family in Texas, intermittently pacing around the living room while they waited for news.

The call had been silent for a while – Adriana had them on mute – but when her voice came back through, they all jumped. "Martin's being questioned by the police now, and they've sent officers to the house to comb for evidence," she said, on the verge of tears. "He swears black and blue that he didn't do anything to her, but I haven't spoken to her in two days; Mom hasn't spoken to her since Sunday and he didn't go to work yesterday."

"Oh my god," Eddie groaned, his stomach churning. "Oh god."

Maddie took the phone from Buck and said, "Adriana, does her car have tracking? Is it her car that's missing?"

"Yeah, it does, but they have to get a warrant or something and they don't think there's enough evidence," Adriana replied. "But like… nothing is missing from the house. She took nothing with her."

Maddie said, "I'll bet you any money she's been stockpiling stuff for months."

"You think she ran?" Adriana asked.

"Yeah, I do. You know how unhappy she's been – you know how she's pulled away from everyone, right? That's exactly what I did when things were really bad," she replied. "You're so… angry at yourself for letting it happen; for feeling weak. You're embarrassed. You're thinking, how could this happen to me? Trust me… I know."

"Well, I'd love to know where she's gone, if that's what she's done," Adriana replied. "I would've helped her."

"Maybe she just made the snap decision," Buck suggested, rubbing Eddie's back reassuringly. "She woke up this morning and said, okay. I'm done."

"She must know that we'd all be worried sick about her," Adriana complained. "Mom hasn't stopped crying in hours."

Maddie looked over at Buck and said, "Honestly, she's probably not thinking about that right now. She'll just be heading somewhere safe."

Eddie stood, unable to sit through any further speculation. He wandered away from them, raking his hands through his hair, and wandered out to the front yard, taking a seat on the bottom step.

He should've flown to Texas and asked her to leave him – he should've been there; done anything more than what he _had done_ , which was to just keep living his life like everything was fine – and all the while, his sister was suffering.

He'd only been sitting there for a few minutes when headlights lit up the street, and a car drove slowly around the bend. Lost in thought, he wasn't paying much attention until it pulled to a stop across the road, and it was only as he gave the car a passing glance that he realised he recognised it.

And Sophia climbed out of the driver's seat, the wind whipping her skirt around her legs, bruises on her face, and looked over at him desperately.

"Sophia!" he shouted, leaping to his feet and sprinting across the road, sweeping her into his arms. She practically collapsed against him, sobbing, clutching at his shirt. "Oh my god – oh my god, Soph. _Soph._ "

"I left him," she wept, her tears dampening his shirt. "I did it."

"You did, oh thank god you're okay. The kids are okay?" Still holding her tightly, he peered into the backseat, and found the three of them sleeping soundly. "Oh god, Soph. You drove all the way here?"

"I just had to go; I just had to leave," she sobbed. "I couldn't take it anymore."

"Eddie!" Buck shouted, sprinting across the street. "Soph? Soph!"

"Oh my boys," she sobbed, as Buck threw his arms around them both in a hug. "Please, can we stay with you?"

"You can stay as long as you like," Eddie replied tearfully, kissing her cheek. "As long as you want. You're safe with us."

Maddie was a few seconds behind Buck, and as soon as they released Sophia from their hug, Maddie pulled her into an embrace. "I'm so proud of you," she said in her ear, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I just wish you'd told someone what you were doing."

"I didn't decide until this morning," Sophia admitted, pulling away and wiping her eyes. "I just… couldn't face another day."

Maddie examined the bruises on her face with a grimace. "I asked you point blank—"

"It's the first time he ever hit me, I swear," she replied tearfully. "We had a huge fight last night… and I lay there afterwards and thought, I can't do this anymore. I can't be in El Paso, I can't be with him. I have to get out."

"You did great," Eddie reassured her, and kissed her on the cheek. "Come on, let's get everyone inside. We've got one spare bedroom ready to go, and we can blow up the air mattress as well."

* * *

Sophia was a wreck. Buck had no idea how she'd managed to drive all the way from El Paso in a day in her current state, but she'd obviously been determined to make her escape. He bustled around in the kitchen while they spoke to Adriana and Helena, and Sophia cleared everything up with the police. He set down a bowl of spicy tomato soup and some toast in front of her, and she looked up at him gratefully, squeezing his hand.

"Mom, I'm not coming back," Sophia said into the phone, her voice shaking – everything was shaking, and Buck exchanged a worried look with Eddie before pouring her a glass of water, and hovering over her until she took a sip.

"But the children have school – you could stay with us," Helena pleaded.

"If I stay with you, he's just going to come around all the time and make us miserable," she argued. "I'm not coming back to El Paso – I don't want to live there anymore. I'll find a job and get the kids in a school out here."

"He's going to call a lawyer first thing, you know," she warned. "And you'll have to bring the kids back."

"Don't you think I googled it? We don't have a custody agreement, so I can take the kids, and I have. And we're not coming back."

"Helena, she's covered in bruises," Maddie said into the phone. "We've taken photos for evidence. He's too dangerous to be around."

"With all due respect, Maddie, this doesn't concern you," Helena said snippily.

"Mom!" Adriana squawked in the background.

"It does concern her because she's my friend and she knows what I'm going through," Sophia shot back. "We're not coming back to El Paso."

"You don't have any money!" Helena argued, and in the background, they could hear Adriana trying and failing to take the phone away. "Sophia, I know you've been unhappy, but stealing your children and driving out to Los Angeles – you could've been killed!"

Sophia began to cry again, covering her face with her hands. Eddie took the phone away from her and said, "Mom, it's late. We'll talk about this tomorrow."

"Eddie—"

He ended the call, passing the box of tissues to Sophia, and said, "Come on, eat some food. It's okay."

She sucked in a shuddering breath, rubbing her face with both hands. "I did the right thing," she whispered, and then looked up at Eddie. "Right?"

Eddie nodded, swallowing hard, and said, "Yes, you did. I'm so proud of you."

"We'll help you," Maddie said to her, as Buck took the empty seat beside Eddie. "I have money. I can help you get set up out here."

"I can't ask any of you to do that—"

"You're not asking, we're offering," Eddie said, hooking his arm through Buck's, and squeezing his hand. "You want to get set up in LA, we'll help you."

Sophia looked at them all in turn, and said quietly, "I need a job. There's a design course I can do, but it's online… but I need a job and I have no qualifications."

"Ever thought about being a 911 dispatcher?" Maddie asked, and Sophia turned to her with surprise. "It's a good job, Soph – and I know you can handle it. There's health insurance, and flexible hours. You could work during school hours and then leave to pick up the kids, and do your course at night."

Sophia thought about it for a moment, her eyebrows knitted together, before finally turning her eyes to Eddie. "Do you think I could do that?"

"I think you can do anything you put your mind to," he replied honestly. "Look at you – you woke up this morning and decided to leave, and just did it. You're so tough."

"We won't stay here for long," she reassured him. "Just until I find something permanent."

"You can stay as long you like. Why do you think we bought this big house?"

"So you guys can have a big family." Sophia spooned some soup into her mouth, licked her lips and then said, "Buck, did you make this from scratch?"

"Yeah, I did," he replied. "It's Eddie's favourite."

"Abuela's recipe?"

He nodded, resting his head on Eddie's shoulder. "You know it."

Sophia smiled tearfully at him, rested her head on her hand and said, "Are you sure it's okay for me to stay?"

"We're sure, but we'll probably need to furnish the other bedroom," Buck said to Eddie, who nodded. "I'll get on that tomorrow."

"And I'm not working tomorrow, so I'll spend the day with you," Maddie said to her. "We can make a plan, prepare your resume – all that fun stuff. You're safe now, Soph. You got out. You're going to be okay."

Sophia's smile was so bright it lit up her face. "I did it," she said, swallowing hard. "I really did it."

Maddie pulled her in for an emotional hug. "You're amazing, Soph."

~

Eddie was on his knees on the bed, a wild look on his face. "You saw the bruises," he hissed at Buck, who held a finger to his lips as he closed the door. "Do you really think it was the first time?"

"Nobody said anything about bruises before, and your mom and sister have been checking in on her constantly," Buck reassured him. "I don't think she'd lie."

"She's been on the road for fourteen hours," he said, anguished. "She's exhausted. She could've just called me and I would've flown out—"

"And possibly ended up in a fist fight with the prick," Buck said, joining him on the bed and resting his hands on his shoulders. "So it's a good thing you didn't go."

"Is it?" Eddie's face was screwed up. "For months I've been freaking out about her, and everyone's been reassuring me, and – what if they'd died? What if they'd had a car accident on the road and fucking _died?!_ "

"They didn't; they're here. It's okay." Buck kissed him, and pulled him into a hug. "Don't worry about the what-if's, just be thankful she's here with us now."

"Yeah." Eddie rested his chin on Buck's shoulder, running his hands up and down his back. "I guess this is why we bought the big house."

"Yeah, for all your extended family, not mine," Buck teased.

"Well, you knew what you were marrying." Eddie was still hugging him close. "Okay. Let's talk this through. We've got Christopher's school thing next week, and now we have Sophia here. Her kids need to go to school and kindergarten as well, and she needs a job—"

"That's not stuff we have to worry about right now," Buck said gently, moving so they were lying on the bed together. "Stop stressing. Just be thankful she's here with us and she's safe."

"If he tries to come out here I'll—"

"You won't do anything, but you're very tough and I'm very intimidated," Buck teased.

Eddie sighed, shaking his head. "I could take him."

"I know you could, but you won't have to. He's not going to follow her. He's not like Doug – he's an asshole, but he's not psychotic."

"Are you sure?"

"I mean, I've only met the guy a couple of times but yeah, I'm sure. Doug was… something else, Eds." Buck made a face. "Nothing behind the eyes. He scared the shit out of me when I was a kid. You've never been intimidated by Martin."

"No… I mean, I always thought he was kind of a douche, but not a murderous one." Eddie sat up again, looking around the room. "Okay. Everything will work out."

"Yep." Buck stroked his arm, smiling up at him. "And she's safe. You can sleep well tonight."

Eddie was silent for a moment, thinking it over, and finally leaned in for a kiss. "You're right. I'll stop worrying."

~

Over the next few days, they settled into life with a house full of people. Christopher was suddenly surrounded by friends; Abuela became an almost permanent fixture, and Maddie, Chimney and Charlotte were over constantly. Max did not approve of the sudden influx of people, so he spent most of his time in Christopher's room on his cat tree, emerging only when things were quiet.

Maddie helped Sophia build a resume, and they submitted it to the 911 dispatch. To Sophia's surprise – but not to anyone else's – she was accepted immediately, and began training with Maddie and Josh. The kids were enrolled in a school near Christopher, and while Carla still collected Christopher after school and took him to his appointments, Sophia finished work at 2pm every day so she could be there to pick up her kids and take them home.

Sophia had been with them over a week when they attended the parent-teacher night at Christopher's school, and upon hearing about Christopher's panic attack, Carla decided to accompany them as well. The math teacher, Mr Stewart, was nice enough, though when he suggested that Christopher had a learning disability, Eddie bristled.

"It's just math," he said sharply. "He doesn't have a problem with anything else, and he wasn't having a problem before this year. So it's math, and it's you."

"Mr Diaz, I didn't mean to upset you – obviously I think Christopher is intelligent," Mr Stewart tried to appease him. "But he's having significant difficulty understanding me, and none of the other children are."

"Well, maybe he needs a new math teacher," Eddie said flatly.

Carla touched Eddie's shoulder and said, "Maybe it's something we need to discuss in a meeting with you and the principal."

"I'd rather not," Mr Stewart replied bluntly.

Taken aback, Carla raised her eyebrows at him. "And why not?"

"Because I don't think there's anything the principal can do to intervene in this instance. With all due respect, I honestly don't think Christopher likes math very much, and so he's not applying himself. And that's just not the right attitude to have."

Eddie's face was bright red. Buck clamped his fingers around Eddie's wrist and said, "With all due respect, that sounds like bullshit."

"I have to agree," Carla added. "Christopher may not like math, but he is trying, which means he _cares_. He's not giving up. Buck and Eddie work through his homework with him every night. I really think that a meeting with the principal would be in all of our best interests."

Mr Stewart sighed. "All right. I'll set it up."

Eddie, who had been restraining himself, suddenly burst out with, "And what ten year old needs to worry about college applications, huh? It's ridiculous. No wonder he's so stressed out."

"I just want the children to think about their futures—"

"He's _ten_ ," Eddie retorted. "He should be thinking about playing games with his friends, not what his major is going to be."

"If he doesn't start applying himself now, the problem will only become worse through middle school and high school—"

"That's enough," Buck cut in, squeezing Eddie's shoulder. "He's ten. We need to figure out a solution, so we'll arrange the meeting with the principal and go from there."

Mr Stewart shrugged again, shuffling some papers. "Okay."

"Fine. Let's go." Buck stood, tugging Eddie up with him, and followed Carla out to the hallway.

Carla turned to Eddie with raised eyebrows. "You need to calm down."

"Me?!"

"Yes, he's just a teacher, and while we don't agree with him, there's no reason to be so rude," Carla admonished him. "We'll talk to the principal – I think moving classes might be an idea, but let's just see what happens. Okay?"

"He's having panic attacks," Eddie grumbled.

"We booked him in with his psychologist," Buck reminded him. "We're on top of it, babe. Just calm down."

Eddie sighed, frustrated, and with them both staring at him, finally gave in and nodded in agreement.

It was as they were settling into the car that he turned to Buck and said, "You know, when I was a kid, I used to freak out about stuff as well. Not school so much, but like… weird stuff. I remember there was a meteor shower one night and I was just panicking thinking that there was an asteroid coming or something – I think _Armageddon_ had just come out? And I mean, I used to internalise it."

"You still do," Buck said dryly, putting the car in reverse.

"Shut up. I'm better now," Eddie said, nudging him in the ribs. "I tell you when I'm upset."

"Yeah, you tell me, you don't tell anyone else." Buck glanced at him with a grin. "No wonder Cooper can't read you. You still bottle everything up."

Eddie rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "That idiot."

"Come on."

"No, he was an idiot today," Eddie complained. "Come on; even you had a go at him."

They'd been called to Venice Beach, where several people had been stung by a swarm of jellyfish. Cooper had hardly been able to keep his eyes off the scantily-clad beach-goers, men _and_ women – Buck guessed he was bisexual? He'd left the job of dealing with Cooper up to Bobby and Chim, who'd both lost their temper with him when he wouldn't stop drooling.

"He's young," Buck said reasonably.

"Would you have done that?"

"Oh, I did worse, Eds, and you know that," Buck said with a grin. "Look… we're off topic. Hopefully the psychologist can give Christopher some methods of dealing with his anxiety."

"Yeah, maybe," Eddie murmured. "I hope so. Hey, did you talk to Cooper about how he was acting at the beach?"

"No, Bobby did, and he used my bad behaviour as an example," Buck said dryly. "But that's okay. I'm a married man now, and that's all in my past. Well, not really… you walked past me today and I just had the perfect view of your tight, perfect butt, Eddie, and… I was thinking about our weekend at the hotel and wishing our house wasn't quite so full."

"We'll book into a hotel on Friday night, while Christopher is at his sleepover, and you can do whatever you want," Eddie said eagerly.

"Babe, if we keep booking into hotels and you keep gorging yourself on room service because it's a once-in-awhile-treat, when it's actually not, we're going to need to spend extra time in the gym."

"All the sex will burn the calories," Eddie said flippantly.

Buck grinned at him. "If you say so. All right, what decisions have we made?"

"I'll book the hotel and I'll try not to murder Cooper. Carla's going to make appointment with the principal, and you're going to stop checking out my ass when we're at work."

"I didn't agree to that last one."

* * *

Their plan to book a room on Friday night was dashed when Sophia admitted that she was too scared to stay in the house alone at night without them. Feeling guilty, Eddie immediately abandoned the plans, though he then worked out when their next weekend off was and booked a night at a hotel near the beach, to make up for it. It was a couple of months away, and he _hoped_ Sophia and the kids would have found their own place by then.

Friday was a busy day at work anyway, and he was sort of relieved that their plans had fallen through. They traversed the city in the truck, stopping only for a quick bite to eat at some food trucks. Buck bought them both burritos, and they sat at a table with Hen, Chimney and Bobby, listening with raised eyebrows as Cooper regaled the rest of the crew with an exploit from his single life.

"And she's smokin' hot right, like, a total knock-out," he said, holding his hands over his chest to imitate breasts, "and I'm dancing with her, and then she suggests that we go out to her car, and like, who am I to deny a request like that—"

"Cooper," Bobby interrupted sharply, turning his head slightly. "Lower your voice."

"Sorry, Cap! Anyway, as I was saying…"

Bobby shook his head and rolled his eyes, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"He is, no doubt, in my top five most annoying people of all time," Chimney murmured. "Higher than Buck, even."

"Oh, I bet I can get back up there again," Buck replied as he unwrapped his burrito. "Just give me time, Chim."

"How's Sophia?" Hen asked Eddie. "She's settling in at dispatch?"

"Yeah, I think so – she's only been there just over a week, but so far so good," he replied. "She's still training. I think Maddie's giving her a lot of help."

"And her ex?" Bobby asked curiously. "Has he been making any waves?"

"She changed her number and got a lawyer," Buck replied. "He's got one in El Paso, so the lawyers are doing all the talking. There's no talk of charging her with parental kidnapping, thankfully. She doesn't like to be on her own in the house at night, just in case… she prefers one of us to be there with her. Hence the reason we don't work night shifts together anymore – at least for the time being."

"Well, she's scared – she made a huge decision; I can't blame her for wanting to keep you both close," Hen replied. "Maybe she'll feel a little more secure as time goes on."

"Maddie says that she doesn't think her ex is like Doug," Chimney added. "So hopefully neither of you get stabbed."

"Okay," Eddie said with a grin. "No one's getting stabbed."

"I got stabbed."

"Yeah, we know, you never let us forget it, rebar-head," Buck retorted.

"Hey, what about you, truck-bomb-tsunami-broken-leg-blood-thinner boy?"

"Let's not use our traumas against each other, please," Bobby said tiredly. "I'm putting up with enough as it is."

~

They'd just wrapped at the site of a potential gas leak in Santa Monica when an urgent call came over the radio – a car had driven onto the Santa Monica pier, and there were dozens of injured people awaiting assistance. Eddie was in the back of the fire engine with Buck, peering out through the window as they neared the pier.

"What do you think made them do it?" he asked Buck.

"Insane." Buck flashed him a tense grin, bumping their shoulders together.

Bobby's voice came over their headsets. "Everyone – be aware, the driver is still in the vehicle and is unconscious. We're getting reports that it's an elderly couple; they seem to have driven onto the pier by mistake. Buck, I want you with Hen and Chim – there are victims trapped in a collapsed kiosk. Eddie, I want you and Cooper to assess and secure the vehicle, and make sure the occupants are okay. Everyone else will be performing triage. We need to find out whether or not anyone went into the water, so stand by for further instructions. The 136 are responding as well, but they're five minutes out."

"Copy that, Cap," Eddie said into the radio, as a chorus of agreement sounded.

Buck squeezed his hand tightly as they pulled to a stop. "Stay safe," he said. "Stay in touch."

"You too." Eddie patted his back as they exited the truck, grabbing his gear from the cabinet on the side, and following Cooper over to the white sedan, which had come to a stop in the middle of the pier. The taillights were still on and the engine still running, but when Eddie tried to open the driver's side door, the elderly man inside looked at him with confusion, and shook his head.

"Sir," Eddie called, motioning for him to open the window. "LAFD. You've driven onto the Santa Monica Pier. Let me help you out, okay?"

"No officer, we're fine, thank you," the old man replied, shaking his head firmly.

"Open the door, Harold," his wife shouted. "We're on the pier; you've hurt people!"

"I think I know where we are, Mildred," he argued, his voice muffled.

Eddie looked over the roof at Cooper. "I need you to put a wheel lock on so if they try to drive away, they can't," he ordered. "Grab the clamps and get back here quickly."

"Copy," Cooper replied, and jogged back toward the truck.

Eddie tried the back door and found that it was unlocked. He opened it slowly, so as not to spook the driver, and said, "I'm a firefighter, okay? Not a police officer. Do you mind if I get in here with you?"

"You lost, sonny? You need a ride?" Harold asked, trying to look over his shoulder.

Eddie climbed into the backseat, shaking his head. "No, but I think you guys are. Try to stay still for me, all right? Why don't you put the car in park?"

"He's very confused," Mildred said to Eddie, tears streaking down her face. "This new car is so fancy, with all these gadgets, and it told him to take a left and he took a right, and then he just got so confused. I think we hit someone."

"That man came out of nowhere," Harold argued.

"Sir, you've driven onto the Santa Monica Pier," Eddie said, leaning through the front seat, trying to check Harold's eyes. "Can you look at me, sir?"

"What's your name, sonny?" Harold asked – his pupils were blown wide, and a streak of blood was trickling down his forehead.

"My name's Eddie, sir. Did you hit your head?"

"We went over a bump," Mildred wept. "A concrete block. He hit his head on the doorframe."

"Okay, Harold," Eddie said, checking his pulse. "Put the car in park for me, sir."

"I don't like your tone, young man. Who are you?" Harold suddenly demanded. "Who the hell are you? Are you robbing us?"

Eddie shook his head, reaching for the parking brake, but was thrown back against the backseat when Harold suddenly jammed his foot on the accelerator again. They took off down the pier, sending people scattering, and Eddie shouted, "Harold, Harold! Stop! Stop the car!"

"Harold, please!" Mildred screamed, trying to grab the wheel. "Stop!"

"I'm trying to get us home!" Harold argued, swinging the wheel, aiming the car directly at the wooden railing on the edge of the pier.

Eddie scrambled in the backseat, trying to pull the parking brake with one hand while calling on his radio with the other. "Cap, I'm in the car – I'm in the car and the driver's confused and concussed—"

"Concussed!" Harold shouted at him, stomping on the accelerator again. Eddie was thrown back against the backseat, losing his grip on the radio, and looked up through the windscreen as the railings came into view.

"Harold, no!" Mildred shrieked.

Eddie braced himself, just as the car smashed through the railings and went over the side of the pier, arcing downward, the blue ocean rising to meet them.

* * *

Buck heard the car rev, and watched as it swerved down the pier. "Where's Eddie?" he asked Chimney, who shook his head in confusion.

_"Cap, I'm in the car – I'm in the car and the driver's confused and concussed—"_ Eddie's voice cut off abruptly, but Buck was already sprinting after the car, his heart in his throat.

"Buck!" Bobby screamed from behind him, but all he could do was watch as the car shattered the wooden railings and sailed over the side of the pier.

Buck reached the railing in time to see the car hit the water, hood-first, and bob in the waves. He threw off his turnout coat and helmet, climbed the railing and threw a leg over.

"Buck, no!" Bobby shouted at him, but Buck was already beginning his descent, ignoring the images swirling through his mind of the tsunami, and the waves, and the salty taste of the ocean and the way he'd been thrown around like a ragdoll. He could wait to have a mental breakdown – the only thing that mattered was Eddie; he had to get to Eddie. Had to save Eddie.

* * *

They were bobbing in the surf. Eddie had hit his head on the roof when they landed in the water, and his vision was blurry as he quickly opened the windows in the backseat, before leaning in through the front. Mildred was yanking on her door, sobbing, trying to open it, and she shrieked when Eddie unbuckled her seatbelt and reached across her to open the window.

"The water!" she cried, as seawater poured into the car. "We're going to drown!"

"Out," he shouted at her, shoving her bodily until she began to pull herself out of the window. "Out, go, go!"

Once her legs were cleared, he climbed into the front and unbuckled Harold, reaching over to open his window as well. The car was sinking rapidly, water was up to his chest as he tried to shove Harold through the open window – but he was like a dead weight, completely immovable.

Eddie weighed his options – stay with Harold, sink to the bottom and potentially drown, or escape and try to swim down to pull him out from the outside. Water flooded in, and his decision was made for him – he left Harold in the seat, climbed out through the front passenger window and splashed into the water, before swimming around the front of the car to try to free him from the outside.

"Eddie!" he heard a familiar voice shout, over the sound of the waves. "Eddie, I'm coming!"

"Get Mildred!" Eddie screamed at Buck – the elderly woman was struggling in the water, barely staying afloat. "I'm okay, Buck! Get her!"

He spotted Buck change direction, swimming towards the woman, and focused his efforts on freeing Harold from the car. He slapped his face a couple of times, trying to wake him up, and then began to yank on his shirt, bracing himself with his feet on the car door, trying desperately to haul him out of the window.

A wave crashed over them and Eddie went tumbling through the water. He broke through the surface again and gasped for air, turning just in time to see the car sink beneath the waves.

"Eddie!" Buck screamed at him, gesturing frantically towards the open ocean.

_A shark_ , Eddie thought in confusion and terror, and then turned his head to spot a lifeguard patrol boat zeroing in on them. No shark, just lifeguards, and he raised his thumb over his head at Buck, took a deep breath, and dove beneath the waves to rescue Harold.

* * *

Buck spotted Eddie dive under again and swore. The lifeguard boat pulled up beside him and he passed Mildred to them, before shoving off from the side of the boat and swimming desperately to where the water was bubbling as air escaped the car. He took a deep breath and dove beneath the waves, and spotted Eddie, still trying to pull the driver out of the car.

Buck swam towards him and tapped his shoulder, gesturing for him to surface, but Eddie shook his head stubbornly and motioned to the driver. Buck leaned into the car, trying to figure out what he was caught on, and realised the old man's leg was trapped in the foot-well. He freed it, his lungs burning, grabbed the old man under the arms and hauled him out of the window.

It was only when they were out and heading for the surface that he realised Eddie wasn't with him and stopped, turning, searching for his husband. He finally spotted him near the back of car, desperately trying to free himself. He was snagged on something, but what, Buck couldn't tell.

He had to get some air. He kicked for the surface and burst through, gasping in several deep breaths, left the old man floating on the waves as two lifeguards swam towards him, and dived back down again. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he swam back to Eddie, who was still struggling – the rolling waves had pushed the car tyre onto his foot, trapping him in place.

When Eddie realised Buck was there, he turned to him with huge, stricken eyes, his mouth opening and closing. Buck grabbed him by the back of the head and kissed him, and then, with a burst of energy he didn't even know he had in him, he threw himself at the car, shoving with all of his might. By some miracle another wave rolled over them, and the car, still somewhat buoyant, lifted enough to dislodge Eddie's foot. Eddie floated free, and when Buck grabbed him he realised that his eyes were closed. Desperate, Buck threw his arms around his husband and kicked for the surface, and found the same two lifeguards descending towards him.

They all broke through at the same time, gasping for air. Eddie was unconscious in Buck's arms, his head on his shoulder, and Buck was sobbing as he swam for the boat, the lifeguards at his side.

"Here, here!" one of the lifeguards on board shouted at him, and they pulled Eddie up and onto the boat. Buck climbed up the ladder and dropped beside him. Eddie was limp and lifeless, his head turned to the side, lips devoid of colour.

"He's my husband," Buck gasped, as the lifeguard cleared Eddie's airway.

"I'll perform compressions; you do the rescue breaths," the lifeguard shouted at him.

They worked in tandem – Buck breathing into Eddie's mouth between each cycle, and finally, after thirty seconds of terror, Eddie coughed up a lungful of water and spewed onto the deck of the boat. Just like that, the adrenaline wore off, and Buck collapsed over him, sobbing, pressing desperate kisses to his face. Eddie's arms went around his shoulders and Buck pulled him up until he was in his lap, clutching him tightly, his head buried against Eddie's shoulder.

"Don't you ever, _ever_ do that to me again," Buck sobbed. _"Ever."_

Eddie made a little noise, nodding. Buck could feel his heart pounding in his chest and rubbed his back, pulling away slightly so he could see his face. Eddie's face was white, his teeth chattering, but when their eyes met he said weakly, "Couldn’t leave him."

"No," Buck whispered, leaning in to kiss him. "I know, sweetheart."

Eddie swallowed hard, resting his head on Buck's shoulder again. Buck's heart was beginning to slow down, and he looked around, realising they were still stopped on the water, and the lifeguards were gathered towards the front of the boat. The old woman was wrapped in blankets, shaking, but the old man was on his back while they performed CPR.

"Is he okay?" Eddie asked hoarsely.

"Don't know." Buck watched, his arms locked around Eddie, and heard the old man suddenly cough back to life. "He's awake; they got him."

"Thank god," Eddie breathed.

"The old guy's gonna make it!" someone called from the front of the boat. "Radio Captain Nash and let him know that everyone's okay."

Eddie suddenly coughed again, doubling over, and Buck pulled away as he leaned over to vomit, his chest heaving as he caught his breath. " _Buck_ ," he groaned, collapsing into Buck's arms again.

Buck held him, his lips pressed against Eddie's forehead, and whispered, "I've got you, baby. I've got you. You're okay."

~

They were met at a smaller pier by Bobby, Hen and Chimney, who helped load the old couple into a waiting ambulance. Eddie was sitting up, draped in a blanket, and Buck waited until he'd climbed up onto the pier with shaking legs before following him.

When he reached the top, he found Bobby with his hands on Eddie's shoulders, gazing at him with concern. "We're taking you to the hospital," he said, and Eddie just nodded, exhausted. "Buck, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Cap," he said, slipping his arm around Eddie's waist. Eddie leaned against him, resting his head on his shoulder. "I'll take him."

"The pick-up is here; go in that. The ambulances are full," Bobby said, as Hen hurried over to them again. "Hen, just quickly check them over for me before I let them go."

They sat down on a nearby bench, and Eddie sagged against Buck. "How long was he out?" Hen asked Buck, checking Eddie's pulse.

"Less than a minute," he replied, rubbing his back. "He's brought up a lot of water."

"You hit your head," she said to Eddie, who nodded. "Maybe a mild concussion."

"Is your foot okay?" Buck asked him worriedly.

Eddie lifted his boot-clad foot and said, "I think so; there's no pain when I walk."

"What happened to your foot?" Bobby asked him with concern.

"The car shifted and the tyre landed on it," Eddie said, his voice gravelly. "When Buck pulled the old guy out… I got trapped."

Buck hadn't realised that he'd contributed, and groaned, pressing his face against Eddie's shoulder.

"No, it's okay, it's okay, I shouldn't have been there," Eddie said, patting his knee. "It's okay; you got me out. You did great."

"I say we make an agreement here and now not to tell Maddie about this," Chimney said to them. "Deal?"

"Deal," Buck agreed, cupping the back of Eddie's neck with his hand, pressing their foreheads together.

Bobby stood over them with his arms folded across his chest, and said, "Eddie, why didn't you secure the car?"

Eddie pulled away from Buck, looking up at him. "I tried," he said, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat. "The old guy was out of it. I didn't think he was going to hit the accelerator again. I tried to grab the parking brake but he stomped on the gas and sent me flying."

"No," Bobby said, his tone a little sharper than usual. "I told you and Cooper to secure the car. Why wasn't it the first thing you did?"

"Cap," Buck protested, but Bobby silenced him with a look.

Eddie was silent, staring into space, trying to remember. He finally looked up at Bobby and said, "I asked Cooper to put a clamp on the tyres," he said. "And he ran off, and… I didn't see him again. Maybe… he couldn't get back, for some reason?"

"Does anyone remember seeing Cooper?" Bobby asked them, and they all shook their heads.

* * *

**Cooper**

_Ten minutes earlier_

"I need you to put a wheel lock on so if they try to drive away, they can't," Eddie ordered. "Grab the clamps and get back here quickly."

"Copy," Cooper replied, willing himself not to mock-salute the prick, before turning and jogging back towards the truck. Why the fuck someone as hot as _Buck_ was married to such a stick-in-the-mud, he had no fucking idea.

As he jogged through the crowd he spotted Buck over near Bobby – the turnout coat hid how truly fit and toned the man was, but Cooper had seen him in the gym, and in the shower… and it was a sight to behold, that was for sure.

He was almost at the truck when he heard a groan, and stopped to investigate. A man's arm was extended from beneath a collapsed signpost, covered in blood. He immediately stopped in his tracks, and after assessing the situation, carefully lifted the sign. Underneath he found a very handsome but beat-up man lying on his side, beat up and bloody.

"Hey dude, are you okay?" Cooper asked with concern, kneeling beside him.

"Can't breathe," he wheezed. "Chest hurts."

"Okay, let me help you out here," Cooper replied, gently rolling him onto his back. "Can you feel your arms and legs?"

The blonde, incredibly buff guy nodded, his face screwed up. "I couldn't get out of the way; got knocked down," he managed to say.

Cooper guessed he had some broken ribs and maybe some internal injuries as well, looking around to see if he could locate Hen or Chimney. "Just hang here for a second, man, I'm going to get a paramedic for you."

"Couldn't leave… even if I wanted to…" the man wheezed.

Cooper squeezed his hand reassuringly and stood up, searching for one of the paramedics. Squealing tyres startled him, and suddenly he remembered the clamps.

_Fuck._

He swung around just in time to see the car he was supposed to secure smash through the railings and sail into the sea, with Buck sprinting after it, screaming for Eddie.

He was so _fucked._

* * *

-to be continued-

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Kat ([cinematicnomad](https://cinematicnomad.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr) for all your help!
> 
> Title is from [You're an Ocean](https://youtu.be/HhjHICy5tW0) by Fastball (which is a banger)
> 
> Talk to me @ Tumblr: [woodchoc-magnum](https://woodchoc-magnum.tumblr.com/) \- my inbox is open!


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